Antonin Scalia - A Matter of Interpretation

About this Episode

Scalia believes the plain text of the law governs and not the intent of the lawmaker or the predilections of the judge. A legal text should be interpreted reasonably to contain all that it fairly meant at the time of drafting. Words have a limited range of meaning, and no meaning that goes beyond that range is permissible. The judge's role is not to impose her own prescriptions for social justice. The 'Living Constitution' serves as a license to make policy from the bench. Scalia believes we need limiting principles to prevent judges from unrestrained judicial lawmaking.