U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently spoke at Amherst (Mass.) College. Scalia told attendees that the Constitution should not be used as a tool to force unpopular views on the populace.
Early years: Scalia was born March 11, 1936, in Trenton, N.J. His father was a professor of Romance languages and his mother was a schoolteacher. He attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Friboug in Switzerland, earning his undergraduate degree in 1957. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1960.
Career: Scalia was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1962 and practiced law with a firm in Cleveland before accepting a job teaching law at the University of Virginia. He then served in various government positions, including general counsel, Office of Telecommunications Policy, Executive Office of the President from 1971 to 1972 and assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice from 1974 to 1977. After his government stint, Scalia returned to teaching law at the University of Chicago from 1977 to 1982.
Scalia was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan. In 1986 he was appointed as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He has come to be known for his quick wit, confrontational style and controversial stances on abortion and free speech.
Family: Scalia married Maureen McCarthy on Sept. 10, 1960. They have nine children.
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In his words: "There is nothing new in the realization that the Constitution sometimes insulates the criminality of a few in order to protect the privacy of us all."
Web link: www.supremecourtus.gov
Sources: Tourolaw.edu, Supct.law.cornell.edu, Brainyencyclopedia.com
