The controversial intellectual giant of our time

Abstract

While the late Justice Antonin Scalia is best known for his colourful, intemperate dissents, not everyone is aware of his broader significance as a jurist and legal scholar. As well as being successful at the bar and bench, Justice Scalia adopted an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation called ‘textualism’ which proved highly influential, and which inspired an enormous quantity of scholarly writing. He claimed that his approach to adjudication was value-neutral; however, his well-known connections to the Republican Party made him a target for accusations of political bias. His concurring opinions in several landmark Supreme Court judgments added fuel to the controversy by providing outcomes which advanced policies generally regarded as favourable to those on the right of the political spectrum. The controversy tends to overshadow the enormous impact that Scalia’s jurisprudence has had on the legal community. He inspired the development of legal thought on both sides of the political divide, and he drew scholars from a variety of academic disciplines into the dialogue. In light of the enormous body of literature he inspired, and his political, legal and social impact, Justice Scalia deserves to be regarded as one of the great common law jurists of the Anglo-American tradition, alongside historical figures such as Denning and Pound.