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• Antonin Scalia is the second most senior Associate Justice in the Supreme Court. He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.

• Fast Facts

  1. Full name: Antonin Gregory Scalia
  2. Born: March 11, 1936
  3. First Italian-American Supreme Court justice
  4. Originalist interpretation of the Constitution
  5. Had Lawrence Lessig as a law clerk
  6. Spouse: Maureen McCarthy Scalia
  7. Religion: Roman Catholic

• Supreme Court

  Scalia was appointed to the Supreme Court to replace William Rehnquist as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Rehnquist was nominated by Reagan to serve as Chief Justice of the United States. Scalia was approved by the Senate with a vote of 98-0. He became the first Italian-American Justice in the Supreme Court on September 26, 1986.

• Originalism

  Scalia has what is called an originalist approach to interpreting the Constitution. This is the theory that the Constitution should be interpreted in its original context. Scalia relies on tradition and history when discerning the meaning of unclear context in the constitution. Scalia believes the constitution should be interpreted according the original intentions of the men who wrote it 200 years ago. He criticizes the idea of a "living constitution" or the changing of the constitution to keep up with modern society.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  The U.S. Supreme Court | Sandra Day O'Connor | John Roberts | John Paul Stevens | Stephen Breyer | Anthony Kennedy | David Souter | Clarence Thomas | Samuel Alito | Gerald Ford | Richard Nixon | Ronald Reagan | George W. Bush | Federalist Society | David Souter Retirement | Sonia Sotomayor

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