Textualism and the Courts

April 26, 2018

Textualism and the Courts (A Wee Bit Wonky)*

textualism

Justice Antonin Scalia, Textualist

The Book

I finished The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption by Richard Hasen recently. Dealing with complex matters, Mr. Hasen offers lucid analysis and a fine read!

Straightaway, Mr. Hasen tells readers he has not written a Scalia biography, or a “comprehensive examination of all of [Justice] Scalia’s opinions and ideas.” Instead, he promises “an examination of [Justice Scalia’s] jurisprudential theories of textualism and originalism, his inimitable and caustic tone in dealing with his adversaries on and off the Court, and his key areas of modern American law.” And he delivers, in plain English!

I’m focused here on textualism, the legal

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