Jonathan R. Siegel
Professor of Law
George Washington University |
Publications |
The Legacy of Justice Scalia and His Textualist Ideal |
||
85 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 857 (2017) |
||
Abstract |
The late Justice Antonin Scalia reshaped statutory
interpretation. Thanks to him, the Supreme Court has become far more textualist.
Nonetheless, Justice Scalia never persuaded the Court to adopt his textualist
ideal that “the text is the law.” In some cases, the Court
still gives greater weight to other indicators of statutory meaning, such
as perceived statutory purpose. Fundamental institutional features of
courts and legislatures—particularly the fact that legislatures
act generally and in advance, whereas courts resolve particular questions
at the moment a statute is applied—justify this rejection of the
textualist ideal |