Sun-Times on Justice Scalia's Visit to the Law School
Abdon M. Pallasch
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia kissed and made up with the University of Chicago Law School, where he used to teach, giving a speech Monday at which he defended his ruling against gun control and urged students to settle for a job at a law firm in Cleveland if it would let them work reasonable hours.
Three years ago, Scalia told a conservative Federalist Society audience in Chicago he “regrets” the turn to the left the University of Chicago Law School took after he departed in 1982: “I don’t think the University of Chicago is what it was in my time. I would not recommend it to students looking for a law school as I would have years ago. It has changed considerably and intentionally. It has lost the niche it once had as a rigorous and conservative law school.”
But Scalia was all verbal hugs and kisses Monday, telling an auditorium full of students, “I’m glad to be back here. A whole lot of what I am intellectually is attributable to this place. The University of Chicago is one of two or three of the most formidable intellectual institutions in the world; a really impressive place. And you’re lucky to be here.”
Dean Michael Schill introduced Scalia by saying, “Justice Scalia is very much a part of the family. I could not be prouder than I am today in welcoming him back home.”
As a professor, Scalia became faculty advisor to the University of Chicago’s fledgling chapter of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group that would grow to help shape the modern judiciary, getting its members such as Scalia appointed to many of the United States’ highest courts.
Scalia delivered a speech on his favorite topic: defending “originalism,” looking for the framer’s intent in the constitution instead of guessing at what he mockingly called “evolving standards.”