Newswise — It is fitting that the late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement will be chosen amid what seems like one of the most polarized moments in American politics, said an expert in constitutional law.
Justice Scalia was one of the most polarizing figures in the American judiciary, said Lauren Sudeall Lucas, assistant professor of law at Georgia State University. Revered by some, others were critical of his opinions and scathing dissents.
“While many accused Scalia of maintaining a brash demeanor that chipped away at the typical level of decorum present at the Court, there seems to be little decorum—if indeed there is any at all—left on the American political landscape,” Lucas said.
But there is one sentiment both sides typically agreed on when it came to Scalia. “He was undeniably brilliant,” said Lucas, who clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens during the 2006-07 term.
An originalist, Scalia’s unyielding judicial philosophy often resulted in politically conservative holdings. Yet, there were times, such as a criminal defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him, where that ardency led him to unexpected conclusions at the other end of the political spectrum, Lucas said.
In recent years, Scalia appeared to have lost all patience with the direction in which he deemed the Court to be heading. In his dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark case from last term holding that the 14th Amendment prohibits states from banning same-sex marriage, he called the majority’s opinion a “threat to American democracy.”
It may be fitting, Lucas noted, that the discussion surrounding Scalia’s replacement promises to be just as brash and laden with conviction as the man himself.
Lucas also served as a law clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as an attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia.
She has written numerous scholarly and popular press articles about constitutional law. Read her recent article about Scalia athttp://law.gsu.edu/2016/02/13/justice-scalia-and-what-his-legacy-means-to-me/ and her bio at http://law.gsu.edu/profile/lauren-sudeall-lucas.
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