Justice Antonin Scalia: The US Constitution is 'Dead'

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/02/23/Uncommon_Knowledge_Antonin_ScaliaU.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia rejects the judicial notion of a 'living' Constitution that can be interpreted to account for social changes in American society, an idea he describes as "unfortunate." "The Constitution that I interpret and apply is not living, but dead," says Scalia.This program was recorded as a part of the Hoover Institution's interview series, Uncommon Knowledge.-----The Constitution "is not living, but dead." With these words Associate Justice Scalia sums up how he believes we should think about the Constitution -- a way of thinking that underpins the theory of "originalism" which guides his approach to cases that come before the Supreme Court.In expounding on originalism, Scalia takes the Court to task on past decisions, including Roe v. Wade, and measures just how far the Court can and should go in reversing these mistakes - Hoover InstitutionAntonin Scalia, Associate Justice, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, March 11, 1936. He received his A.B. from Georgetown University and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and his LL.B. from Harvard Law School, and was a Sheldon Fellow of Harvard University from 1960-1961. He was in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio from 1961-1967, a Professor of Law at the University of Virginia from 1967-1971, and a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago from 1977-1982, and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University and Stanford University. He was chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law, 1981-1982, and its Conference of Section Chairmen, 1982-1983. He served the federal government as General Counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy from 1971-1972, Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1972-1974, and Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel from 1974-1977. He was appointed Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1982. President Reagan nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat September 26, 1986.

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Justice Antonin Scalia: The US Constitution is 'Dead'

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