From the national law offices of Charles Jerome Ware, P.A., Attorneys and Counsellors: "Still working. Still committed. Still here to make a difference".
Two brilliant and well-respected federal judges are at odds over a book: 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. And their war of words is escalating.
The spat began when, in June 2012, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, long known as a champion of the legal philosophy of "textualism" (that is, interpreting statutes by the writer's words) released his new book co-authored with Bryan A. Garner, editor-in-chief of Black's Law Dictionary, titled "Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts". In addition to explaining textualism and originalism (defining the words of the statutes based on the Constitution Founders' meaning) the book lists 70 canons to guide lawyers and judges.
Spring forward two months or so to August 2012. in a relatively blistering review of Justice Scalia's book, Judge Posner skillfully attacks Justice Scalia's argument, arguing, inter alia, that Scalia considered "legislative history" (and did not rely solely on "textualism") in striking down a Washington, D.C. handgun ban. Thus, alleges Posner, Scalia deviated from his own "textualism" philosophy in the case.
Justice Scalia now responds to Judge Posner: "To say that I used legislative history is simply, to put it bluntly, a lie". Oops!
Expect more fireworks to come between these two legal titans.
Keep the conversation going.
[www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/18/ "Atonin Scalia: Judge Richard Posner Lied In Judicial Philosophy Criticism", by Terry Bagnes, Reuters; www.abajournal.com/books/ReadingLaw, by Scalia; www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/18/ "Fanning Furor, Justice Scalia Says Appeals Court Judge Lied", by Terry Baymes; www.Chicagotribune.com/news/ "Justice Scalia Says Chicago Appeals Court Judge lied", 2012/09/18]
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