Supreme Court Essay

Total Length: 1086 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 4

Page 1 of 4

Justice Antonin Scalia's philosophy and contributions to the US Supreme Court, and the effect of his demise on the Court, particularly on Amendments IV, V, VI and VIII.

Philosophy and Impact of the Death of Scalia



Owing to Justice Scalia's disruptive nature, a number of impolite social media posts, op-eds and tweets are expected from parties who were usually not in agreement with his philosophy. Despite the presence of other "conservative" Justices, Antonin Scalia's aggressive and frequently insulting views either infuriated the opposition or made individuals who agreed with him feel immensely superior and triumphant. I personally believe he can be rightfully counted among the best orators in American history and also the best writer ever among Supreme Court Justices. With respect to the Court's future, numerous diverse responses on the part of politicians are to be expected in the near future (Burrus, 2016). My hope and prediction is that a number of individuals who opposed his philosophy will accord him the regard he rightfully deserves, which will, possibly more than any other thing, prove his continuing legacy. Viewed objectively, Scalia definitely ranks among the nation's greatest justices. His flamboyant wittiness and powerful reasoning made him the strongest and most prominent supporter of the constitutional interpretation theory of originalism, which was scorned at the time Scalia was first appointed by Reagan, but has now assumed 'mainstream' status in the minds of conservatives as well as liberals. His notions will indisputably continue to be debated among legal circles even a century from now, just like Joseph Story, Learned Hand and Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior are (Burrus, 2016).
When visiting California, President Obama hailed Scalia's larger-than-life role at the Court, his sharp intellect and his profoundly-persuasive and marvelous legal brain. The Justice's death sparked an instant, heated political battle within the Congress. While the Democratic Party called for the immediate nomination of another individual instead of leaving his post vacant for the succeeding President to appoint, important Republicans (presidential candidates, Mitch McConnell (the upper house's majority leader) and others) demanded the opposite. A well-informed spokesperson closely linked to the Obama government even anonymously imparted a list of the prospective candidates shortlisted by Obama (Knox, 2016), including DC circuit appellate court judge Sri Srinivasan; Georgetown professor of law, Neal Katyal, who worked for a year as acting solicitor general to Obama; DC circuit appellate court's Chief Judge, Merrick Garland; Loretta Lynch, Attorney General; Don Verrilli, the Solicitor General who is a favorite of Obama's government for his persistent defense of Obamacare at the Court; Eric Holder, ex- Attorney General; and Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security.

4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments Impacted



Scalia's relatively civil-libertarian view of Amendment IV left several observers astonished. On particular matters, the Justice backed distinct rules in favor of law enforcement (e.g., the unbiased test for justifying a stop). But with regard to defining fairness and searches, Scalia's formalism and originalism philosophies ensured….....

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


References


Burrus, T. (2016, February 13). RIP: Was Justice Scalia the Last Great Supreme Court Justice? Retrieved February 02, 2017, from https://www.cato.org/blog/rip-was-justice-scalia-last-great-supreme-court-justice

Knox, O. (2016, February 13). Supreme Court Justice Scalia dies. Retrieved February 02, 2017, from https://www.yahoo.com/news/supreme-court-justice-scalia-dies-222420293.html

Slattery, E., Bibas, S., Blackman, J., & Garnett, R. (2016). Conservative Policy Research and Analysis. The Legacy of Justice Antonin Scalia: Remembering a Conservative Legal Titan's Impact on the Law. Retrieved February 2, 2017, from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/08/the-legacy-of-justice-antonin-scalia-remembering-a-conservative-legal-titans-impact-on-the-law

(1994). The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Scalia - Fifth Amendment 'Clearly Permits the Death Penalty' - NYTimes.com. Retrieved February 2, 2017, from http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/23/us/scalia-fifth-amendment-clearly-permits-the-death-penalty.html
Related Essays

Supreme Court Second Amendment Case

protects individual's right to bear arms. The U.S. Supreme Court later granted certiorari (U.S. Supreme Court, 2007). Issue: The issue in this case is whether the provisions of the District of Columbia Code violate the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In essence, the question is this case is, "Do the provisions of District of Columbia Code violate the Second Amendment through restricting handguns licensure and requiring trigger-locks for firearms kept in the home? Rule: The rule of law here is that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives individuals the right to bear arms. The amendment… Continue Reading...

Supreme Court Sodomy Cases Rulings

In 1965 the Supreme Court had determined in the case Griswold v. Connecticut, that the state could not block married couples from employing birth control while in the seclusion of their own homes (Bazelon, 2012). To a modern audience, this seems obvious and almost ludicrous that something of this nature would have to go before the official court. However, this serves to demonstrate some of the issues of the era, and the lack of evolution of human thought, along with the general lack of empathy for others. This stunted mentality of human development,… Continue Reading...

How Supreme Court Justices Are Appointed

the United States is entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the Supreme Court Justices: "The President...shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States." Because unlike other public servants, Supreme Court Justices serve for life, their appointments need to be considered carefully. The general public cannot be trusted to make decisions this important with proper care and consideration. The most recent election of Donald Trump further proves this to be the case. Even though presidential appointments… Continue Reading...

Court Process, Judicial Process, and Constitutional Issues

of generating fundamental changes in law. Week 5: Discussion In the American judicial system, the Supreme Court reviews very few cases most of whom are appeals from lower courts. It should not be mandatory for the Supreme Court to review more cases despite having appellate jurisdiction. The best legal standard to determine whether the Supreme Court should review a case includes the national significance of the case, its precedential value, and the need to create harmony between conflicting decisions. Week 6: Discussion 1 The U.S. Supreme Court is an important element of the nation's criminal justice system given its original and appellate jurisdiction. Through its… Continue Reading...

Court Case Review In Re Winship

the appeal was rejected and later sent to the Supreme Court, which granted certiorari and deemed "preponderance of evidence" methods unconstitutional based primarily on the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause. The outcome of the case strengthens the burden of proof requirements for all criminal cases, juvenile or not. However, juvenile defendants are particularly influenced by this decision. The decision particularly applies to acts that would be considered crimes if the defendant were an adult. Although juveniles are the principle recipients of the outcome, In Re Winship generally strengthens the concept of burden of proof, and upholds the inherent values… Continue Reading...

Federal Versus State Courts Authority

the federal court system is specifically derived from Article II which created the institution of the Supreme Court, the highest law in the land, and also permitted Congress to establish a system of lower courts. At present, there are 94 district level trial courts and 13 courts of appeal (“Court Role,” 2018). The state courts derive their power from the state constitutions directly, although state authority does not supersede that of federal authority. This was a major sticking-point between federalists and antifederalists and remained a point of contention during the early days of the republic. State courts possess what is referred to as general jurisdiction, which… Continue Reading...

Marbury V Madison Impact

supreme law, affirming the authority of the Court over judicial review. The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that the federal courts are allowed to overturn the decisions of the other arms of government in the event that they act contrary to the Constitution (GROSSMAN). This is one of those "checks and balances" that are the core of the national government's function. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, beat John Adams, a Federalist in becoming America's third president. Right before Adam's retirement, he introduced new positions in the judiciary, which he gave to his political partners. After Jefferson became president, James Madison, the State Secretary,… Continue Reading...

Marbury V Madison Case

answer to the second question was in the affirmative, could this sort of writ be issued by the US Supreme Court? With respect to the very first issue raised, the Chief Justice held that the petitioner had been appointed appropriately according to legally-set down procedures, thus being entitled to this writ. Furthermore, owing to the petitioner's legal entitlement to the commission, he should be offered a remedy by the law. Marshall further stated that the courts were especially duty-bound to safeguard citizens' rights -- even if it was against the nation's president himself. At that time, his ill-disguised reprimanding of President Thomas Jefferson regarding the rule of law proved… Continue Reading...

Hobby Lobby and First Amendment

in a funeral and was found guilty of saying outrageous comments in a funeral. However, the Supreme Court of United States in an 8-1 decision argued that the church was constitutionally protected to say whatever they wanted as far as they did not affect the ceremony. It was established that they had avoided the ceremony and had not been involved directly in stopping the ceremony (Zipursky, 473). The Supreme Court of the United States favored Hobby Lobby in its ruling asserting that under the First Amendment, religious beliefs were protected and it was the right of the business owner to run his or her business under… Continue Reading...

Criminal Process from Arraignment to Pre Trial

this stage (Tanner et al., 2007; American Bar Association, 2007). U.S. Supreme Court's Philosophy on the Criminal Process The philosophy of the U.S. Supreme Court on the rights of the defendant dates back to the time of Earl Warren as the Chief Justice. At the time, the supreme court of the United States was referred to as the Warren Court, which is a common practice in various judicial systems to refer to the country's judicial system with the name of the chief justice. At the time, from 1953 to 1969 -- the time Warren served as the chief justice of the… Continue Reading...

Exclusionary Rule in Terry Vs Ohio

Supreme Court Bill of Rights Case Terry v. Ohio introduce the Terry frisk into police procedure, allowing officers to have the right to stop and frisk or do a surface search of individuals on the street even without probable cause. All the officer would need would be to have a reasonable suspicion that the person being searched had committed, was about to commit or was in the act of committing a crime. The Supreme Court stated that the officer's suspicion had to be "specific" and able to be put into… Continue Reading...

Discrimination and Social Justice Issues Today

benefits. Yours truly, X UNIT 5 DISCUSSION Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) was one of the most significant US Supreme Court cases of the post-Reconstruction era. The case involved Plessy, who refused to occupy a railway car designated for people of color alone and instead sat in a car deemed to be for whites only. The Supreme Court at the time held that it was constitutionally permissible to mandate racial segregation as long as the separate facilities were equivalent to one another. The Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision, however, overturned Plessy, first noting the logistical impossibility of creating facilities which were truly separate but equal. As noted… Continue Reading...

Judges Code of Conduct Improvement Strategies

Judicial Impropriety in United States Supreme Court A judicial impropriety occurs when a judge disregards existing legal standards expected of him /her when they are discharging their roles during judicial proceedings. For instance, a judge who does not base his or her ruling on the evidence provided and the applicable laws but disregards a defendant while giving undue advantage to the prosecutor or the litigant commits judicial impropriety (Leyland & Anthony, 2016). Judicial impropriety has been reported Judiciary of the United States on several occasions. For instance, Judge Sharon Keller of the Court of Appeal… Continue Reading...

Unreasonable Searches and Seizures Article Reviews

(2014). The Supreme Court Justices have cellphones, too. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/opinion/linda-greenhouse- the-supreme-court-justices-have-cellphones-too.html This article suggests that while the US Supreme Court justices are sworn to uphold the law, their own personal biases and experiences may influence them. Author Greenhouse (2014) notes that one reason the Court may have drawn the line permitting luggage to be squeezed without probable cause is that as passengers they may have found such practices personally distasteful and intrusive—and thus were motivated to see such actions as a violation against the prohibition against unreasonable… Continue Reading...

First Amendment and Broadcasting Content

even if it is not intended that they purchase the product. In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed censorship of certain types of language with the explicit purposes of protecting children. In the Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, "deliberate and repetitive use of words referring to excretory or sexual activities during an afternoon broadcast could be heard by children" ("First Amendment and Censorship," 2017, par.15). But the proposed advertisement for our company's new Scantily Clad line of clothing does not contain explicit language or images, merely innuendo: "So Light You Won't Know You are Wearing a Thing!" The innuendo is present in the… Continue Reading...

Muller V Oregon 1908

Muller v. Oregon In Muller v. Oregon (1908), the Supreme Court of the United States “upheld an Oregon law limiting the workday for female wage earners to ten hours” (The Oregon Encyclopedia, 2018). The issue under consideration was whether the passage of laws by states to protect workers was permitted by the Constitution. The evidence presented by Brandeis, a lawyer acting for the state, clearly demonstrated that women’s health was negatively affected by long hours of work. On this basis, “the court concurred on the grounds that society had an interest in protecting the bodies of potential mothers, whom… Continue Reading...

Norway, England, Wales, and the United States

example, both Norway and the United States have a Supreme Court. This is the highest tier in its court system. Here the justices decide what laws will be upheld by the country. However, unlike the United States, Norway has conciliation boards or an Interlocutory Appeals Committee that allows for examination of the information before it reaches the court. Furthermore, decisions made in the Norwegian Supreme Court are upheld with no chance for appeal or complaint. The only exception is the Court for Human Rights (Sriramesh & Vercic, 2009). The United States Supreme Court rulings can be overturned by a… Continue Reading...

Trump Versus Hawaii

Trump v. Hawaii Constrained Court View and the influences on the Supreme Court Thesis: The main aim of this text is to highlight the misdeeds of the trump administration ruling on the immigration policy to the extent of the law. Legal precedence always follows facts and without that, the law is void and needs clarification. In the constrained view of the case, there is need to look at the implications on the economics, culture, outlook and psychology of the people involved. The law affects immigrants from all nations of Islam. The need to get the law right on this one is… Continue Reading...

Mapp Vs Ohio Case

Supreme Court-handled cases. Amendment IV forbids unauthorized searches and seizures in American citizens’ homes, in addition to delineating citizens’ privacy rights. The chief issue in this case dealt with whether or not proof gathered in the course of a search operation that breached the constitutional Amendment IV could be admitted in state courts. Attorney Kearns lodged an appeal notice and forwarded the case to Ohio’s Supreme Court, to reconsider the ruling made by the Court of Appeals (Mapp v. Ohio - Supreme Court of Ohio (Case No. 36,091)). Amendments I… Continue Reading...

sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Supreme Court" (2017, February 05) Retrieved March 29, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/supreme-court-essay

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Supreme Court" 05 February 2017. Web.29 March. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/supreme-court-essay>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Supreme Court", 05 February 2017, Accessed.29 March. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/supreme-court-essay