Diana Doll: Scalia’s ‘originalism’ allowed him to put his thoughts in place of founders

Re: “Scalia protected America’s ideals” (Letters, Feb. 28): I respectfully disagree. While appreciating the justice’s reported wit, intellect, loyalty to family and friends, and love of opera, I found his conservative, partisan opinions frustrating. They seemed to be “my way or the highway” and his justifications not entirely logical. Since “originalism” did not allow actually divining the thoughts of long-dead framers, Scalia apparently substituted his own ideas. According to veteran New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse: Scalia’s message was that courts have no business recognizing “new” rights. (Except, evidently, new rights of which he approved, such as an unconstrained right for corporations to spend money in politics.)

Thus, Justice Scalia’s mantra of a “dead” Constitution is at least as untenable as the letter writer’s exaggerated depiction of a “living” Constitution. The founding fathers surely expected a reasoned evolution in the interpretation of their principles. To quote from Michael Sean Winters’ analysis in the National Catholic Reporter: Laws that cannot change with the lived circumstances of a people soon become disconnected from reality, and that disconnect will lead to the law being held in derision or ignored.

Now is an opportunity to restore the former respect and believability accorded the Supreme Court.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Diana Doll: Scalia’s ‘originalism’ allowed him to put his thoughts in place of founders."