Justice Antonin Scalia and the Long Game

7 Pages Posted: 10 Apr 2012

Date Written: March 13, 2012

Abstract

This essay is a brief assessment of Justice Antonin Scalia's impact on the work of the Supreme Court over the last 25 years. Justice Scalia's appointment was marked by predictions that he would use his personality to help persuade his colleagues to his doctrinal views, much as Justice William Brennan had reportedly been able to do, Instead, Justice Scalia pursued what the essay calls a jurisprudential long game, emphasizing theory -- both in his devotion to textualism in the statutory arena, and originalism in constitutional law -- instead of coalition-building on a case by case basis. By doing so, he has had a significant impact on the Court's jurisprudence across doctrinal lines, and in ways that has greatly influenced both the Court and the legal system at large.

Suggested Citation

Kelley, William, Justice Antonin Scalia and the Long Game (March 13, 2012). George Washington Law Review, Forthcoming, Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No. 2037985, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2037985

William Kelley (Contact Author)

Notre Dame Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 780
Notre Dame, IN 46556-0780
United States

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