A nine-member panel — arguably the most powerful in the world — presides in Washington, D.C. over issues affecting the mundane aspects of life as well as the fundamental issues in American society.
One of the panel's members — United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia — will speak tonight in McCosh 50 at 8:00 p.m.
Part of the Graduate School Centennial celebration, a two-day conference on James Madison and the Constitution, which began last night, will continue all day today, culminating with Scalia's speech.
The speech will focus on constitutional interpretation, a subject about which University professors believe Scalia has been one of the most vocal members of the Court.
"Scalia has been particularly public and clear about his understanding of how the Constitution should be interpreted by judges," said Keith Whittington, an assistant professor in the politics department. "Scalia calls for constitutional interpretation that focuses on the original meaning of the text, by which he means how the Constitution was generally understood by intelligent and informed people at the time of the founding."
Scalia was scheduled to speak at the University following an invitation from his friend and former classmate at the University of Chicago Law School, professor Stanley Katz, who is the departmental representative for the Wilson School.
Katz said he believes Scalia's reputation in the legal world will consistently grow and said his visit offers University students an opportunity to learn more about both the Supreme Court and the Constitution.
"He is one of the most brilliant and most interesting of the justices, and I admire his skills," Katz said. "He and I have very different views of constitutional interpretation and constitutional values, but I have no doubt that he is one of the most important justices."
"I imagine he will be promoted to Chief Justice at some point over the next four years," he added.
A powerful figure in Washington, Scalia invariably draws both praise and criticism from the crowds he addresses. Labeled by politicians and media outlets as "conservative," Scalia is often criticized for an alleged bias in his opinions.
Richard Falk, a Wilson School professor who will be Scalia's colleague at a law program this summer in Thessalonika, Greece, was quick to say Scalia is "abundantly qualified" and one of the court's "intellectual leaders," but admitted he has reservations regarding Scalia's Court decisions.
His public role in the 2000 presidential election has led many to criticize his perceived right-wing tendencies.
"I tend to view the Scalia-led majority opinion in relation to the Florida electoral process during the 2000 presidential elections as dubious to the point of scandalous — seemingly inconsistent with the conservative view of federalism, and suspiciously linked to the promotion of a partisan political outcome," Falk said.
"All in all, such perceptions, which seem widely shared, definitely have diminished the stature of the Court. How dark a shadow this [casts] over the contributions of Justice Scalia's cumulative role is difficult to assess at this point," he added.
Falk noted, however, that these views are merely perceptions and, though commonly held, are evaluations by third parties of the Supreme Court decision process.
Whittington explained that Court decisions will always be divisive because only one side can prevail, but are not inherently partisan or biased.
"The decisions of the Supreme Court have important political and policy consequences," Whittington said. "[T]hey are difficult decisions about which reasonable people can and do disagree, and judges have to make those decisions. They are bound to be labeled as a result."
Justices — because of their fairly consistent voting tendencies — are quickly labeled as conservative or liberal.
"It is only natural for Americans to label justices as liberals and conservatives because there is a definite pattern to their voting on decisions," politics professor Howard Rosenthal said.
"Although coalitions on the Court are not always predictable, it is certainly true that Justice Scalia votes with Justice Thomas more often than with Justice Ginsburg. The Courts are partisan and likely to be increasingly so because the Senate has become polarized," he said.
Though the environment in Washington is highly partisan, the Supreme Court has long been considered an independent judiciary, removed from the daily grind of politics.
Whittington said the interpretation of justices' actions as partisan is both damaging to the Supreme Court and polarizing among Americans.
"There is no room for partisanship in the official actions of federal judges. Almost all federal judges have some political background and connections — that's how they get appointed as judges in the first place," Whittington said. "What is important is that judges can and do avoid partisanship in conducting their duties, and be capable of behaving independently and giving equal justice."
"Judges may have relatively conservative or liberal constitutional understandings, but that is quite different than being partisan — and the vast majority of federal judges know the difference, including all the members of the current Supreme Court," he added.
Scalia's personal political views, however, are not the only factors that shaped the man who now sits on the Supreme Court. Born in 1936 in Trenton, NJ, Scalia is the father of nine children, according to a Cornell Law School profile. After receiving his A.B. from Georgetown University, Scalia later studied at Harvard and was awarded his LL.B.
He has maintained strong connections with higher education, serving as a professor at the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, the University of Chicago and Stanford University.
Scalia was appointed by President Reagan to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1982. Reagan again tapped Scalia to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1986 — the post he has held for more than 14 years.
Regardless of Scalia's resume and controversy, the legal giant has been characterized by many professors as exciting, vibrant and an enjoyable speaker. Whittington believes all members of the University community who attend the speech this evening will leave with a better understanding of James Madison and the Constitution.
"Justice Scalia's return to campus is a wonderful opportunity for students," Whittington said. "He is an extremely smart and entertaining speaker, and among the most important individuals in government."
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