The Unexpected Scalia
A Conservative Justice's Liberal Opinions

This book explains the flawed judicial philosophy of one of the most important Supreme Court Justices of the past century.

David M. Dorsen (Author)

9781107184107, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 February 2017

394 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 0.69 kg

Antonin Scalia was one of the most important, outspoken, and controversial Justices in the past century. His endorsements of originalism, which requires deciding cases as they would have been decided in 1789, and textualism, which limits judges in what they could consider in interpreting text, caused major changes in the way the Supreme Court decides cases. He was a leader in opposing abortion, the right to die, affirmative action, and mandated equality for gays and lesbians, and was for virtually untrammelled gun rights, political expenditures, and the imposition of the death penalty. However, he usually followed where his doctrine would take him, leading him to write many liberal opinions. A close friend of Scalia, David Dorsen explains the flawed judicial philosophy of one of the most important Supreme Court Justices of the past century.

Introduction - what is liberal?
Part I. Scalia's Judicial Philosophy: 1. The Confirmation hearings
2. Scalia's principles of decision making
Part II. Scalia's Conservative Constitutional Opinions: 3. First and Second Amendments
4. Constitutional criminal procedure
5. Privacy and individual rights
6. Government power and regulation
Part III. Scalia's Liberal Constitutional Opinions: 7. First Amendment - freedom of speech and more
8. Fourth Amendment - search and seizure
9. Fifth Amendment - criminal applications
10. Sixth Amendment - right to trial by jury
11. Sixth Amendment - confrontation clause
12. Sixth Amendment - right to counsel
13. Seventh Amendment - right to jury trial
14. Habeas Corpus
15. Separation of powers and Federalism
16. Commerce clause and other provisions
Part IV. Scalia's Conflicted Constitutional Opinions: 17. Political speech
18. Antiabortion demonstrations
19. Free exercise of religion
20. Punitive damages
21. Peremptory challenges
Part V. Originalism Reconsidered: 22. Fundamentals reconsidered - textualism and originalism
23. Fundamentals reconsidered - other doctrines
24. Conservative opinions reconsidered - individual rights
25. Conservative opinions reconsidered - other
26. Liberal opinions reconsidered
27. Conflicted opinions reconsidered
Part VI. Scalia's Nonconstitutional Opinions: 28. Four Liberal special cases
29. Liberal criminal statutory opinions
30. Liberal civil statutory opinions
31. Conservative statutory opinions
Part VII. Finale: 32. The other originalist justice
33. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Jurisprudence & general issues [LA]