2008 Woodie Awards
University 'Books' Scalia
Lora Powell: Muleskinner
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News
|
When Justice Scalia discovered a package containing Staab's recently published book, "The Political Thought of Justice Antonin Scalia: A Hamiltonian on the Supreme Court," sitting on his desk, he felt compelled to give Staab a call.
As a result, Scalia will be coming to the UCM campus March 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Hall to present his lecture, "Constitutional Interpretation."
"Justice Scalia doesn't normally come to institutions that don't have a law school, but he said he would consider an exception in this case," Staab said.
Staab's book is based on the principle that the line between conservative and liberal is distinctly blurred in the Supreme Court.
"When I was in graduate school, people were saying which justices were liberal or conservative, but a lot of the major controversies during the Rehnquist era were decided between the conservatives despite their differences, primarily regarding affirmative action, abortion and criminal defendant rights," Staab said.
Staab gave an example of Scalia's position during Gonzales vs. Raich, when the Supreme Court decided to overrule the state of California's power to legalize medicinal marijuana. Scalia strayed away from his normal conservative stance and joined the liberal side of the argument "because the federal law trumped state power and ruled against the people who wanted to use marijuana."
Scalia's lecture on Constitutional interpretation will reflect his Hamiltonian conservative views, which means he supports a strong national government and a strong executive branch, and isn't as concerned about states' rights.
"He is an 'originalist,' so he believes the Constitution should be read based upon its original meaning, so it is somewhat a backward approach. He rejects the idea of a living Consititution. That, to me, is his real conservatism," Staab said.
Be the first to comment on this story