For Law Wonks Only

Got time to kill? How Appealing recently pointed me to Bryan Garner's interviews with eight-out-of-nine sitting Supreme Court justices regarding their tips on written and oral advocacy. I found them fascinating and enlightening listening.

Among the most surprising things: Justice Scalia was asked who he thought was the greatest Supreme Court justice in terms of opinion writing. He identified Justice Robert H. Jackson as his favorite, and named Justice Jackson's eloquent dissenting opinion in Korematsu v. United States, 321 U.S. 760 as a particular favorite. This took me by surprise because . . . . First, Justice Jackson was very "liberal," at least in terms of championing individual rights. Second, the dissent Justice Scalia mentions as his favorite can almost be read as a screed against the current Bush Administration's attempts to circumvent the Constitution in support of the "war on terror." Not quite what I would have expected from Justice Scalia . . . .

Comments

[George Seldes]

Scalia has the trait that characterizes so many sociopaths of great intelligence, the ability to completely compartmentalize his mind; he is able to appreciate Jackson's prose without allowing any of it to penetrate his Jack Bauer/24 fantasy that has him not only deciding issues likely to arise before argument but announcing his decisions in the media.

[xxx55512]

I can’t stand the way some people express their mind – it sound terrible. Is a lot of cussing necessary, guys?

[lisa smith]

Im surprised they didnt say they were their favorite writers.

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