Antonin Scalia’s Constitutional Textualism: The Problem of Justice to Posterity

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Published: May 17, 2012
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24357/igjr.6.1.461

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Bruce E. Auerbach
Albright College, Department of Political Science
Michelle Reinhart
Albright College, Department of Political Science

Abstract

Antonin Scalia defends his textualist approach to interpreting the Constitution by asserting that the purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the range of options open to future generations by enshrining institutional arrangements and practices in constitutional mandates or prohibitions. For this purpose to be fulfilled, justices of the Supreme Court must read the language of the Constitution according to its original meaning. We argue there is little reason to believe that Scalia’s understanding is correct. Neither the language of the Constitution nor the writings of Jefferson or Madison are consistent with Scalia’s interpretation. More importantly, the goal Scalia posits, of seeking to restrict the range of options open to future generations, is intergenerationally unjust.

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No. 1 (2012): The Interdependencies between Justices
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Articles

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Author Biographies

Bruce E. Auerbach, Albright College, Department of Political Science

Bruce Auerbach is a Political eorist in the Department of Political Science at Albright College. He writes in the areas of U.S. Constitutional Law and Intergenerational Justice.

Michelle Reinhart, Albright College, Department of Political Science

Michelle Reinhart is a recent graduate of Albright College. She works as a Property Maintenance Specialist for the City of Reading, PA.

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