Politics & Government
Illinois Lawmakers React to Death of Justice Scalia, a Former Law Professor in Chicago
The conservative U.S. Supreme Court justice died unexpectedly Saturday in Texas. He was a University of Chicago law professor.
Scalia, 79, was a conservative voice on the court.
Already, conservatives are urging President Obama refrain from naming a successor in the final year of his presidency, saying the next president should be the one to appoint a new justice. Liberals, of course, are asking that the work of the court not be delayed.
Illinois senior U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, released a statement Saturday.
“Justice Scalia served our country for three decades on its highest court. While our opinions on the law and jurisprudence were frequently at odds, he was steadfast and true to his beliefs during his tenure. My thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this time.”
Sen. Mark Kirk, a Republican running for re-election, posted his thoughts on Twitter: “One of the greatest constitutional scholars to ever serve #US on the bench.”
Scalia was nominated to the court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. He was the first Italian American to serve on the court.
Scalia, a New Jersey native who lived in Virginia, taught law at the University of Chicago from 1977 to 1982 after serving in the U.S. attorney general’s office during the Nixon and Ford administrations. He visited the school in 2012 and taught a constitutional law class. During one lecture, a student asked him an intriguing question, according to the university’s alumni magazine.
Asked by a student what he considered to be the most important issue that has not yet come before the Court, Scalia paused for a few moments before answering, “What is the meaning of life?” and then proceeding to share some jokes on that topic.
In 2007, a U of C law professor, Geoffrey R. Stone, criticized the Supreme Court’s ruling in Gonzales v. Carhart that upheld a federal ban on partial-birth abortion. Stone said religion had influenced the decision, specifically noting all five justices in the majority, including Scalia, were Roman Catholic. Scalia was so angry, he said he would never visit the University of Chicago as long as Stone still taught there.
In 2009, Scalia criticized the law school for abandoning rigorous conservative ideology.
The 2012 visit was an opportunity of sorts for Scalia and the school to mend fences, according to Jeff Carroll in the University of Chicago Magazine:
During this visit he happily accepted a gift from Law School Dean Michael Schill—an early edition of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography—and called the University “one of two or three of the most formidable intellectual institutions in the world.” His interactions with law students ranged from the serious (a spirited but respectful back-and-forth over whether his originalist view about the Second Amendment is consistent with his First Amendment perspective) to the light-hearted (an inquiry about whose idea it was for him and fellow Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to take an elephant ride together—it was hers).
The Chicago Tribune notes that two jurists with Chicago connections could be among those considered as replacements for Scalia:
The last time there was a Supreme Court vacancy — in 2010, when Elena Kagan was appointed — two judges with Chicago connections were mentioned as possible candidates for the job. Both remain prominent and could attract interest this time.
They are Diane Wood, chief judge of the Chicago-based 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Merrick Garland, who grew up in Lincolnwood and is now chief judge of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
That 2010 Supreme Court vacancy occurred due to the retirement of another judge with local ties, Justice John Paul Stevens, who grew up in Chicago, got his bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and earned his law degree from Northwestern University.
Data curated by InsideGov
On Saturday, both U.S. Senators from Illinois and several Republican congressmen posted comments on Twitter about the justice’s passing and legacy.
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