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Local political professors remember Justice Scalia

4 min read
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Two local political professors who met Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia remembered him as “knowledgeable and never dull” and said his legacy won’t be forgotten – even by those who vehemently disagreed with him – following his unexpected death Saturday.

Joseph DiSarro, the political science department chair at Washington & Jefferson College, met Scalia on at least five occasions and said each time prompted a fascinating conversation with “many colorful comments” about constitutional issues.

“He was knowledgeable and never dull,” DiSarro said. “This was a man who was so versed in constitutional law, always prepared and absolutely meticulous in his ability to ground down the decision to the most important parts. His questioning was relentless.”

DiSarro called Scalia a complex man who could be polarizing, but never made his opinions personal when disagreeing with his more liberal colleagues or those arguing before the court.

“He never let personality into the discussion. If he disagreed with someone, it was about the ideas and not the person,” DiSarro said. “It’s one of the things that made him great and allowed members of the court on the other side to respect him.”

Larry Stratton, a Waynesburg University professor and director of the Stover Center for Constitutional Studies, has taken the program’s students to Washington, D.C., for the past six years. A large group of students met Scalia in 2013, and Stratton said the justice left quite an impression on them, even for those who disagreed with his views.

“He was very strong and very jovial at the same time,” Stratton said. “He emphasized the structural importance of the separation of powers, protections of our liberties, and not just the Bill of Rights.”

The meeting really gained steam, Stratton said, when one of the students asked Scalia about his interest in hunting.

“He lit up and wanted to show a moose in his chamber. That’s what broke the ice in our conversation,” Stratton said, which prompted a long discussion of questions and answers. “He held us in deep focus for about an hour. They were wonderful in plugging forward. It was a great give and take.”

Both professors expect there to be less give and take in the upcoming fight to find Scalia’s replacement, although they agreed it would be best for President Obama and Senate Republicans to agree on a moderate, consensus choice rather than let the vacancy continue until after the 2016 election.

“It’s going to be a big battle ahead,” Stratton said. “The Supreme Court was taking up so many important issues (this term).”

DiSarro suggested Obama’s nomination should follow a similar path to when Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is widely regarded as a moderate swing-vote on the court, was confirmed during a presidential election year in 1988. He said it could be “misguided and poor politics” for either side to run this presidential election with the Supreme Court appointee hanging in the balance and that it would benefit them to find common ground now. DiSarro reminded Republicans they could lose both the White House and Senate this year, which would allow Democrats to select a more liberal choice.

“The president and the Senate, I think they’re posturing right now,” DiSarro said while also acknowledging the level of polarization in the country’s political arena. “I think we would be far better off as a nation – and I’m a Republican – to get this confirmation process moving forward, to do a tough examination of the candidates … and find out what this person is all about.

“Find someone who is a moderate and a swing vote.”

Regardless of what happens, DiSarro said there won’t be another justice like Scalia.

“To suggest another Scalia is out there and will be on the court anytime soon, with the way the Senate is now, I’m afraid not and that’s a shame,” he said. “The court has to have individuals like Scalia.”

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