PHOENIX — In a spirited and sometimes humorous talk, the most senior justice on the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday defended being an “originalist” on the bench, surrounded by so many others who he says just get it wrong.
And Antonin Scalia said he doesn’t see the situation changing any time soon.
During nearly an hour of answering questions Tuesday from members of the local Federalist Society, Scalia chided judges who he believes twist the U.S. Constitution to say what they want it to say and get the result they want.
Scalia did not name names.
But he acknowledged being in the minority on a host of rulings by the nation’s high court. And he said while he’d rather his colleagues see things his way, it does give him a certain amount of freedom in writing a dissent.
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“The most important element of a good dissent is a really stupid majority decision,” he said.
Such as?
He singled out a 2001 ruling in a case brought by a golfer who had a circulatory disorder and wanted to be able to use a golf cart to play in the PGA tour. The majority cited the Americans with Disabilities Act in siding with the golfer, with Scalia, joined only by Clarence Thomas, in dissent.
Scalia said much of the case turned on whether walking was essential to the game of golf.
“It’s a game!” the justice told his audience.
“Whatever the rules are, you follow the rules,” Scalia continued. “If they say you have to hit it with a Coca-Cola bottle, you have to hit it with a Coca-Cola bottle.”
Scalia said there’s a reason cases go this way: using the Constitution to achieve a desired result is “a very seductive philosophy” versus following what the words actually say or what has been enacted by lawmakers.
“It’s a lot more satisfying to ask yourself, ‘What ought the Constitution to say?’ ” he said, and then “squeeze it in under the Equal Protection Clause or the Due Process Clause.”
The same is true for interpreting laws, he said, even ones he said are poorly considered or crafted.
“The rule for me is ‘garbage in, garbage out,’ ” Scalia said. “If they’ve given me a stupid statute, I am bound by oath to produce a stupid result.”
Scalia said the political process of confirming judges is likely to lead to more people on the bench like those with whom he often finds himself at odds.
Scalia was in Phoenix to promote “Reading Law: The interpretation of Legal Texts,” which he co-wrote with Bryan Garner, an attorney whose specialty is use of the English language.
He also poked a bit of fun at state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who introduced him, saying his name was unpronounceable because it did not have enough vowels.
“Why don’t you have a good, old-fashioned, common American name, like Scalia?” the justice quipped.
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