Scalia Explains Why He Gave In to ‘Public Spectacle’
Some might think that Justice Antonin Scalia is suddenly doing a series of interviews (including one with the ABA Journal) in an effort to promote his new book.
But there is more to Scalia’s change of heart than that, he says in an interview published on C-Span’s website. Scalia’s explanation of why he is now seeking publicity is one of “the remarkable aspects of the interview,” Legal Times concludes.
Scalia explains his new embrace of the press in response to a question about T-shirts that use the justice’s name and bobblehead dolls of his likeness.
“That’s one reason I’ve sort of come out of the closet and—in recent months done more interviews and allowed my talks to be televised more than I did formerly,” Scalia says. “I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that the old common law tradition of judges not making public spectacles of themselves and hiding in the grass has just broken down. It’s no use, I’m going to be a public spectacle whether I come out of the closet or not, beyond T-shirts and bobblehead dolls and whatnot. So if, you know, if I am going to be a public figure, I guess the public may as well get their notion of me firsthand.”
