U.S. Supreme Court
Stop the Presses! Justice Scalia Criticizes Fuzzy Media Reporting
Posted Mar 28, 2008, 08:38 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Justice Antonin Scalia, known for his emphasis on looking to the text of the laws when interpreting their meaning, is criticizing the news media for failing to make clear the statutory basis of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
Scalia said media reports often fail to explain that the justices are parsing the text of a particular statute, the Associated Press reports. The stories make it appear the court is simply issuing a policy decision, Scalia said yesterday in a speech to lawyers attending a meeting of the Food and Drug Law Institute.
Scalia focused his criticism on a New York Times editorial, “No Recourse for the Injured,” about a pre-emption decision Scalia wrote last month restricting lawsuits by those injured by medical devices.
The Times editorial called Scalia’s decision in Riegel v. Medtronic “disturbing” and “unsettling.”
“It is not our job to speculate upon congressional motives,” Scalia wrote in the opinion. “If we were to do so, however, the only indication available—the text of the statute—suggests that the solicitude for those injured by FDA-approved devices, which the dissent finds controlling, was overcome in Congress’ estimation by solicitude for those who would suffer without new medical devices if juries were allowed to apply the tort law of 50 states to all innovations.”
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