Last month, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, passed away. Justice Scalia was perhaps best known for his conservative jurisprudence, which strongly advocated textualism in statutory interpretation and originalism in constitutional interpretation. Amidst the ongoing political controversy over who should replace him and when the appointment process should take place, this series reflects on how Justice Scalia’s judicial approach and reasoning has influenced rights-based protections across significant areas of the law.
With the assistance of OxHRH Research Associate, Professor Anne Lofaso, we are delighted to bring together a series of expert contributors from across the United States:
Professor Atiba Ellis – Antonin Scalia’s Voting Rights Legacy: Weakening the Franchise for Minorities
Professor Valena Beety – The rights of the criminally accused but innocent
Professor Luke Boso – LGBTQ rights/same-sex marriage
Professor John Taylor – The religion clauses (Part I and Part II)
Professor Jennifer Davis-Oliva – Women’s Healthcare and Reproductive Rights
Professor Ruthann Robson – Gender Equality
Professor Valarie Blake – The Affordable Healthcare Act
Professor Joshua E. Weishart – Education rights
Professor Anne Lofaso – Labour law and workers’ rights
Do join us on the Blog and get involved by leaving your comments at the bottom of posts or contacting us via Twitter (@OxHRH) and Facebook.
I hope my friend Anne Marie Lofaso, in her posts about Labour and Employment Law, will go back to the transcript of the oral argument in Hoffman Plastics. There she will find a comment by Justice Scalia that was indicative of his dismissive view of workers’ rights. The case, as Anne knows, was about whether undocumented immigrant workers are entitled to backpay if they have been unlawfully fired for their union organizing activities. The majority, of course, found that they are not. At oral argument, Justice Scalia referred to the spectre of undocumented workers “sitting on the couch, eating bonbons, waiting for their backpay checks.” It is hard to imagine a more harsh, and inaccurate, view, of the reality of these workers’ lives.
Hi Dennis – I was planning on doing exactly that! Thanks for tip and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!