Justice Antonin Scalia\u27s Constitutional Originalism: The Need for a Coherent Interpretive Theory and Judicial Restraint

As the Supreme Court legislates “new rights” into the Constitution from the bench, it decreases the right deemed most fundamental by our Founders: that of self-governance. Though the Founders envisioned a weak judiciary designed to protect our rights, it has vastly usurped its stated powers and is now encroaching on the rights of the people. Justice Antonin Scalia knew this to be true; through his powerful judicial opinions and dissents, as well as his extrajudicial speeches and works, he attempted to warn the public of the seizure of power being made by the Supreme Court under the guise of “evolving standards of decency” and the so-called Living Constitution. This presentation intends to show the necessity of Scalia’s “text and tradition” Originalist method of constitutional interpretation as this philosophy safeguards the right of the people to legislate for themselves and stays true to the principles of our Founding charter