A Matter of Interpretation, Antonin Scalia
A Matter of Interpretation, Antonin Scalia
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A Matter of Interpretation
Federal Courts and the Law

Author: Antonin Scalia, Amy Gutmann

Narrator: Christopher Grove

Unabridged: 6 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/26/2020

Categories: Nonfiction, Law, Civil Law


Synopsis

We are all familiar with the image of the immensely clever judge who discerns the best rule of common law for the case at hand. According to US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a judge like this can maneuver through earlier cases to achieve the desired aim—"distinguishing one prior case on his left, straight-arming another one on his right, high-stepping away from another precedent about to tackle him from the rear, until (bravo!) he reaches the goal—good law." But is this common-law mindset, which is appropriate in its place, suitable also in statutory and constitutional interpretation? In a witty and trenchant essay, Justice Scalia answers this question with a resounding negative.

This essay is followed by four commentaries by professors Gordon Wood, Laurence Tribe, Mary Ann Glendon, and Ronald Dworkin, who engage Justice Scalia's ideas about judicial interpretation from varying standpoints. In the spirit of debate, Justice Scalia responds to these critics.

Featuring a new foreword that discusses Scalia's impact, jurisprudence, and legacy, this witty and trenchant exchange illuminates the brilliance of one of the most influential legal minds of our time.

About Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. Appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Scalia was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the Court's conservative wing.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brandon

Agree or disagree with him (I often end up on the ladder), the man is a brilliant writer whose lively writing style can make even the most esoteric legal topic perhaps not fun, but at least bearable. That being said, Scalia decries the import of the common-law mindset into the federal court system-......more

Goodreads review by Silas

Scalia is a very lucid writer and gives clear examples to illustrate his points so the writing itself its was enjoyable to read. However, I found his defense of "textualism" to be weaker than I expected and not very convincing. Parts of it were persuasive, such as his dismissal of Judicial History b......more

Goodreads review by Jacob

Disclaimer up front: I'm an attorney in the US with a great amount of respect for Scalia's legacy on the court, and I consider myself a full-on textualist with regards to statutory interpretation. But yeah, five stars from me, easily. Regardless of one's take on the late justice's rulings and the eff......more