Word: originalist
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Dates: during 1996-1996
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...wisdom of Solomon--should apply general, unvarying rules to every case, Scalia says. And the Constitution, he maintains, consists of just such rules. Where others see highly abstract terms, intentionally written to evolve with the nation they're meant to govern, Scalia--who describes himself as a textualist and originalist--sees a text of fixed and narrow meaning: in the Bill of Rights, "liberty" cannot comprise the privacy and personal autonomy to choose to have an abortion or to engage in homosexual relations because it did not in 1791. The 14th Amendment's "equal protection" cannot overrule the decision...
...fact, a decade of exertions has not won a single Justice to Scalia's originalist point of view; his only dependable ally is Clarence Thomas, who shared his philosophy in the first place. On the nine-seat court, Scalia is one of seven Justices chosen by Republican Presidents. Yet "he has this view of himself as embattled," observes Yale law professor Robert Burt, "always fighting the desperate fight...