1. Scalia Set to Lead Conservative Supreme Court
With centrist Justice Sandra Day O’Connor replaced by more conservative Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia is poised to emerge as a leader of a new conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
Since his appointment to the high court in 1986, Scalia has often been in the position of writing dissenting opinions as the court failed to muster a conservative majority.
But now Scalia’s views may represent the majority as the court deals with key social issues, including religion in public life, abortion and affirmative action.
“It is a prospect dreaded by liberals, and eagerly awaited by many on the right,” reports Los Angeles Times staff writer David G. Savage.
On Feb. 28, the court will hear a challenge to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which several plaintiffs have challenged as unconstitutional propaganda for religion.
Scalia has already defended the teaching of creationism in public schools and voted in favor of allowing the government to promote religion in general. A Supreme Court affirmation of the Initiatives “could make it much harder for critics to legally challenge government programs that promote religion,” Savage writes.
In April, the court will hear a new challenge to a law banning corporation and union-funded broadcast ads for a federal candidate in the month or two before an election. On campaign finance in general, Scalia has argued that such laws violate the free-speech rights of contributors and candidates.
The court will soon render a decision on an affirmative action case it heard in December. The case concerns a challenge to the use of racial integration guidelines in two school districts, and it gives the court’s conservatives “a chance to broadly reject race-based policies,” according to the Times.
The court will also hear a challenge to a law banning a midterm abortion procedure. Scalia has repeatedly called for overturning Roe v. Wade.
Scalia’s main message is that much of what the Supreme Court has done in the last few decades constitutes an illegitimate power grab, Savage reports.
He said in a recent speech: “I’m one who believe the Constitution should be interpreted exactly as it was adopted. It should be interpreted as it was written — nothing more, not less.”
