U.S. Supreme Court
Scalia’s ‘Nixon-Goes-to-China Moment’
Posted Apr 9, 2008, 08:12 am CDT
By Molly McDonough
Justice Antonin Scalia, who at times has appeared indifferent and nearly hostile to the media, is set to appear on the prime time Sunday news program 60 Minutes later this month.
The Blog of Legal Times characterized the news of Scalia's appearance as "extraordinary" and called it the justice's "Nixon-goes-to-China moment."
Scalia will be promoting the new book he co-authored with Bryan Garner, called Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges.
Even though Scalia is hardly the first justice to promote a book on national TV, Legal Times reporter Tony Mauro noted that Scalia in particular has been averse to broadcast media coverage. Early in his tenure, for instance, if a television news crew showed up at one of his appearances, he'd refuse to speak until the cameras left.
Scalia, Mauro writes, "may have felt encouraged in a general sense by the lighter and more open leadership of the Court by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., which contrasts sharply with the cloistered style of Rehnquist, Roberts' predecessor. The 72-year-old Scalia may also have felt that at this stage in his life, the time has come to unburden himself and tell his story on a stage broader than the Supreme Court."
Scalia also will appear in a live broadcast on C-SPAN3 today in an open exchange with high school students.
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Comments
Posted by Irwin Eisenstein - 2 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 6 hours, 22 minutes ago
I can understand the difficulties with Media and justices. about 8 years ago, I was invited to videotape Justice Kennedy by Judge Edward D. Re who was teaching at St. Johns law school.
I understood that there was a commitment not to publish the video until and unless it was approved by Judge Re and Justice Kennedy. I have not published the tape even though It is fascinating and shows a justice in a very different light!
I expect to make digital copies and hopefully, it will be made available sometime in the future.
As to Justice Scalia, there may be several reasons for his appearances in the media. He is older, there is a new Chief Justice, and he cannot be appointed to that position.
Posted by F Rivero - 2 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 2 hours, 57 minutes ago
How about we expand the list of reasons for public appearances? Let’s take a cue from the article’s mention of Scalia’s upcoming book and call out the elephant in the living room: self-promotion. What force can be strong enough to overcome a long and consistent history of aversion to media? Money - it’s as pure and simple as that. As Scalia said it better than anyone else in another article trumpeting his appearances - he is certainly no moralist-in-chief.