The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law

by Antonin Scalia

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his own words: the definitive collection of his opinions, speeches, and articles on the most essential and vexing legal questions, with an intimate foreword by Justice Elena Kagan

A justice on the United States Supreme Court for three decades, Antonin Scalia transformed the way that judges, lawyers, and citizens think about the law. The Essential Scalia presents Justice Scalia on his own terms, allowing readers to understand the reasoning and insights that made him one of the most consequential jurists in American history.

Known for his forceful intellect and remarkable wit, Scalia mastered the art of writing in a way that both educated and entertained. This comprehensive collection draws from the best of Scalia’s opinions, essays, speeches, and testimony to paint a complete and nuanced portrait of his jurisprudence. This compendium addresses the hot-button issues of the times, from abortion and the right to bear arms to marriage, free speech, religious liberty, and so much more. It also presents the justice’s wise insights on perennial debates over the structure of government created by our Constitution and the proper methods for interpreting our laws.

Brilliant and passionately argued, The Essential Scalia is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand our Constitution, the American legal system, and one of our nation’s most influential and highly regarded jurists and thinkers.

Genres: Law, Nonfiction, Legal, Politics, Philosophy, History, Political Science

311 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2020

About the author

American jurist Antonin Scalia served from 1986 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of United States.

Antonin Gregory Scalia previously served in the Administrations of Richard Milhous Nixon and Gerald Rudolph Ford, taught law at the universities of Virginia and Chicago, and served on the circuit for District of Columbia. Ronald Wilson Reagan, president, appointed him in 1986. People considered him a core member of the conservative wing; he vigorously advances textualism in statute and originalism in constitutional interpretation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin...

Reviews

[Caroline David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading his words years after his death are nostalgic and definitely makes you sad that we lost such an incredible thinker. I loved how the book was divided up into some of his best comments on originalism, textualism, the structure of the constitution, his dissents and opinions, and reading his speeches. It was set up beautifully and I think this really honors his legacy in the best of ways. I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy so I can really dissect it and make notes.

[Leonard Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

His starting point of analysis is that the Court is essentially an undemocratic institution when 9 unelected people from a very limited class of people justify decisions based upon the theory that “we’re a different society” etc. than the Founders’ society.

Textualism shouldn’t be controversial - it’s what we do with contracts - rely on the words first and, if reasonably clear, negotiating history, etc., is not relevant. The book contains a powerful basis to undermine the worth of legislative history evidence.

Originalism shouldn’t be controversial as he describes it. The end result would be that the federal and particularly the state legislatures would be responsible to manage the huge range of political issues that the Constitution does not directly address (probably because the Founders believed the states should address many of them) and, regarding which, there were long standing well accepted practices during the Founders’ era and thereafter. The Court has (with or without authority depending upon your point of view) acted on many critical issues because the legislatures failed to fulfill their responsibility.

The book would be much better with the inclusion, for each article or opinion, of a fair summary or excerpts of the argument in opposition to Scalia. And the book doesn’t challenge Scalia with the hard questions that arise from his originalism theory.

But, should be read and discussed.

[Susan Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of Scalia arguments provide the reader with a framework for thinking about constitutional law. He is a very good writer: witty and, above all, cogent. Even if you don't quite concede to his arguments, he presents a very compelling case: sticking to the law and tying judiciary hands. The only thing that would be better is to have "The Essential Ruth Bader Ginsburg" in order to read the rebuttal. Highly recommend.

[Mark O'mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

One for the SCOTUS & Scalia fans interested in a range of legal opinions from rulings and views about the appropriate role of the Supreme Court. Five stars because almost the entire book is in Scalia’s words - which even his ideological opposites on the Court (Ginsburg & Kagan - Kagan writes a glowing forward to this book) - are deserving of no less than five stars.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

No matter where you stand on the spectrum of judicial philosophy, Justice Scalia will challenge you with his entervating style, his logical and often humorous analysis, and his forthrught and plain writing. This collection of his opinions and speeches are well worth your time.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Constitution, plain and simple. You don't need to be a lawyer or even a constitutional scholar to understand Scalia's writings. Should be required for all high school history classes!

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting! Enjoyed it.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great backgrounder

If you want to understand what Antonin Scalia thought about a range of timely and key legal issues and subjects, look no further. It requires diligence to finish this book but it is well edited and well organized. Antonin Scalia broke the mold. We are a weaker country without him.

[Brian Fiedler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got my 5-stars worth in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Perhaps you may just desire a link to Scalia's dissent. I was only able to find it embedded in much longer legal documents, such as scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=...
Then search for the word "permissibility".

But the opinion is much more beautifully rendered in the book, for example, without the word ante interrupting the flow of the prose.

Scalia's dissent is now 29 years old. At the beginning of the final four paragraphs:

There is a poignant aspect to today's opinion. Its length, and what might be called its epic tone, suggest that its authors believe they are bringing to an end a troublesome era in the history of our Nation and of our Court. ...

And then in his penultimate paragraph:

Quite to the contrary, by foreclosing all democratic outlet for the deep passions this issue arouses, by banishing the issue from the political forum that gives all participants, even the losers, the satisfaction of a fair hearing and an honest fight, by continuing the imposition of a rigid national rule instead of allowing for regional differences, the Court merely prolongs and intensifies the anguish.

Anotonin Scalia, I miss you.

But I didn't agree with all his decisions. In the majority decision of Kyllo v. United States (joined by Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg and Breyer), there seems to be some misunderstanding about infrared radiation. Do they think such radiation is coming from the growing lamps directly to the thermal imager, and thus measurement of infrared radiation requires a search warrant? Or do they understand that it comes from the surface of the house, as does the reflected visible radiation?

Scalia shines in MCI v. AT&T. His take down of the evolving dictionary definition of "modify" is super.

It is no wonder that Justice Elana Kagan admired and admires Scalia so.

I deliberately read the book slowly. Approximately one speech or decision per day. A daily devotional. I can't give it 5 stars, because it is not the sort of book I would hand to most people. It's not a "page turner".

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A justice on the United States Supreme Court for three decades, Antonin Scalia transformed the way that judges, lawyers, and citizens think about the law. “The Essential Scalia” presents Justice Scalia on his own terms, allowing readers to understand the reasoning and insights that made him one of the most consequential jurists in American history. Known for his forceful intellect and remarkable wit, Scalia mastered the art of writing in a way that both educated and entertained. This comprehensive collection draws from the best of Scalia’s opinions, essays, speeches, and testimony to paint a complete and nuanced portrait of his jurisprudence. This compendium addresses the hot-button issues from abortion and the right to bear arms, to marriage, free speech, religious liberty, and so much more. Justice Scalia, who was appointed to the Court by President Reagan in 1982, died in February 2016. He was succeeded by Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed to the Court by President Trump. For those who love the law, a good read.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a free digital copy from goodreads.

This collection of essays and decisions gives a great understanding of the 2 main concepts brought to the Supreme court by Scalia. Namely Originalism (how the constitution should be interpreted), and Textualism (how laws should be interpreted)
Also included is a number of decisions that he wrote explaining how those concepts work in practice on real decisions.

Since I'm not one that follows the court, or memorizes the court cases or decisions it would have been nice if there were notes about what each of the cases referred to were about, but that my have broken things up too much and if necessary they could be looked up.

That aside, I found this collection to be very readable and understandable despite being a kind of person who does not usually read court documents written by lawyers.

[Grad · Rating 5 out of 5]

His intellect, humor and charm shine through.

[Samuel Perry Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook

This is a collection of Scalia's writings. Bluntly, it is a better Constitutional Law text book than those currently in use.

[William Padula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty dense if you’re not a lawyer. Speeches are a good read.

[Paul Sand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on Bryan Garner's column in a recent issue of National Review, I was gonna check out the book he wrote with Antonin Scalia, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts. But when I picked that up off a shelf of the Portsmouth (NH) Public Library, I quickly discovered it was a very dense reference work aimed at lawyers. So I checked out this one instead, an unusual choice for me, but a pretty good one.

I don't often quote book cover blurbs, but this one has an excerpt from SCOTUS Justice Elena Kagan's lovely foreword:

I envy the reader who has picked up this book, as I once picked up [Nino's] opinions, not knowing what he or she will find … In these last few years, I have missed the enjoyment and excitement — even the exasperation — that came from thinking about Nino's latest opinion. I doubt that anyone who turns the final page of this book will wonder why. No one has ever written quite like Nino, and no one ever will … So … learn from the contents of this book. And equally, challenge the contents of this book. (Nino would have wanted you to.) But above all else, enjoy them.

I do not dissent from Kagan's opinion.

It is a compendium of Scalia's SCOTUS opinions (including dissents), as well as some articles and lectures he gave over the years. It's a great overview of a fine legal mind, who also happened to have a knack for a well-turned phrase. There are no howlers, but his prose is full of sly wit that made me smile. (And, rarely, he will be obviously annoyed with the other side in his dissents, and the resulting zingers are pretty good too.)

I was somewhat surprised at the occasional makeup of the justices concurring with Scalia's opinions. I had not appreciated his strict views on criminal protections. For example, his decision about thermal-imaging a pot grower's house without a warrant, Kyllo vs. United States, was joined by David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. Not the usual lineup.

A final section of the book deals with "administrative law", the regulations promulgated by executive agencies powered by handoffs from Congress. It opens with a 1989 speech, where his first line is "Administrative law is not for sissies." I admit, just about all of the argument in this section flew over my head, so I definitely count myself as a sissy here. Apparently, Scalia's views on "Chevron deference"—a doctrine which SCOTUS "overturned" last year—evolved over time. But I only got a vague notion of the issues involved.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this was an interesting and mostly accessible read. I say mostly, because it covers a lot of legal ground and decisions in a way that is understandable to non-lawyers. The editors did a good job in selecting Scalia's speeches, essays, majority opinions, and dissents. He is a cogent, informative, and sometimes entertaining writer and I think that translates well into a lay understanding of the legal principles and his concept of them. The speeches were a bit harder to sift through, mostly because they tended to have been those given at law schools (he was a professor prior to his tenure on the supreme court) and they seem to require a bit more legal knowledge and history than I personally possess. It's worth a read for anybody who wants to understand more about a textualist interpretation of the constitution and laws. It is also educational because we tend to hear more about the "big cases" decided by the court and not so much about the smaller (some might say "boring") cases, but those were educational and interesting too. I found the sections on criminal protections especially enlightening as he is very focused on due process and what the government is allowed to do and many of those opinions or dissents would be written by Scalia and joined by Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan, and in later cases Sotomayor. Elena Kagan's forward was a lovely tribute as they apparently grew to be close friends (he taught her to hunt) much as Scalia and Ginsburg were friends. The last 30 or so pages got a bit too meaty for me (Chevron deference anyone?) but I soldiered on.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love him or hate him, Antonin Scalia was the most influential (US) Supreme Court justice of the modern age. As is pointed out in the intro to this book, The Essential Scalia, when he came to the bench in the 1980s, "Originalism" and "Textualism" were both out of the mainstream for both scholars and federal judges. Decades later, (nearly) every decision is weighed on these scales.

This book provides a broad look at Scalia's legal thought process, including insights from his time as a law professor, his speeches, and his opinions, both in the majority and the minority. Even if you are not particularly interested in this court or legal opinions, Scalia was a great writer and knew how to construct an argument in a way that is both informative and entertaining, often very funny. My only criticism is that the compilers of this work had a vast body of writings to draw from, and they drew too selectively. There should be more meat on these bones, so I dropped a star.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the functioning of the modern Supreme Court, anyone interested in modern conservative jurisprudence, and even anyone that enjoys essays well written. You won't be disappointed.

[Joshua Guest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like so many "Essential" compilations, there's a suspicion that the editor is holding something back, which makes the entire exercise a source of frustration. I suppose that's just the nature of the genre. We have a good compilation of Justice Scalia's greatest hits... according to the editor. And the essence may very well have been captured. I shouldn't blame the editor for not making the "Essential Scalia" into the "Complete Works of Scalia." But that's exactly what I would have needed to feel that this book was worthy of 5 stars. I wonder how much different this book would have been if Justice Scalia were allowed to compile it himself. What would HE consider essential to understanding not just his jurisprudence but his personal philosophy on life. This volume is good at touching the former, and is silent on the latter. Then again, the book never claims it aimed to. The title says it clearly: "On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law." I was fairly warned.

Justice Scalia would likely be disappointed in me arrogating the authority to both legislate and adjudicate the rules for awarding stars to this book.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable for a non-law student; tho I am similar in political background I didn't agree with Scalia on all issues, but his reasoning is clear and justifiable. Interesting footnotes that in several cases where he was a minority dissenter, 5-10 years later his rationale was incorporated into future decisions and the prior logic overturned.
What I didn't realize from the prior book on his options was these are abridged. The original material may be more in depth. This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in law and politics, helpful in understanding that there is (or should be) a process. What is in the Constitution shops be implemented through clear law. What is not in there is not in there and is dangerous ground. Highly recommended.

[Noah Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If one is interesting in the area of law…..this book is beyond perfect! Not only does it deal with the honorable late Justice Antonin Scalia’s famed majority opinions, concurrences, dissents, and statements respecting denial of certiorari, but includes essays by the legal scholar explaining areas of the law ranging from civil liberties, separation of powers, to administrative law, etc. This book is a must for anyone interested in the Supreme Court of the United States of America and it’s many (many) decisions and rationales for deciding cases. A phenomenal book!!!!! And a worthy foreword!!!!

[Patrick Sobkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. I disagree with much of Justice Scalia’s jurisprudence. But I respect his intellect and curiosity. His contributions to administrative law—my scholarly area of interest—are too many to count.

I would especially recommend this book (and Judge Katzmann’s “Judging Statutes” and/or Justice Breyer’s books) to young law students. Justice Scalia and Judge Katzmann/Breyer represent, generally, the two sides of the debate on constitutional and statutory interpretation.

[Kevin Dolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the Audible version of the book and it is excellent. Whether you agree with Scalia's judicial philosophy or not his opinions, especially his dissents, are worth reading. You'll get insight into the law as well as an example of great writing. Excerpts of his speeches and other writings are also entertaining and informative.

I have a pile of "to read" books, but I definitely plan to come back to this and dip into it on occasion.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Essential Scalia provides a crucial understanding of Justice Scalia’s originalist view, an understanding that I believe is necessary in order to be either a disciple or an opponent of the view. One thing is clear to me after reading: Justice Scalia was a master of words. Both the lawyer and the layperson would benefit from reading the contents of The Essential Scalia.

[Joe Rodeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

For law school only. Supreme Court opinions are long, dry, & laboriously boring. There’s no attempt to translate into layman’s English or to analyze the subject matter independently. I recommend *Scalia Speaks* for students of history and government if you’re not terribly interested in deep Constitutional analysis.

[Sumukh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you agree or not with Justice Scalia, he was an excellent writer and speaker. He defended his legal viewpoints with conviction and in an engaging manner. This collection brings together his notable opinions and speeches in a concise format to understand his perspective on the Constitution and his feelings on the role of the Court.

[Gregg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish his writing was more accessible to the public. Scalia’s ability to convey his thoughts out cycles even his peers on the Supreme Court, which indicates that he, not the army of top-notch clerks was the difference. A dissent by Scalia is infinitely more intellectually satisfying than any majority opinion written today.

[Luke Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justice Scalia speaks with unparalleled authority on matters of constitutional interpretation in a way that fascinates both the layman and the legal-minded. This book provides an excellent glimpse into the judicial philosophy of one of the Court’s most influential legal minds in recent history—a must-read for understanding the justice’s application of originalism and textualism.

[Julei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scalia said. "Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't. Nobody ever thought that that's what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws."

[Paul, · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading these pieces by Scalia. I don't agree with everything, particularly around the "personhood" of the corporation, but I found that judges are wrestling with the same cultural and philosophical issues that theologians are wrestling with around the way to use a foundational text. Highly recommended.

[Jamey Yadon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great selections for people who are interested in politics, but not lawyers or law students. Scalia's opinions are informative and enjoyable and his other works represent a well-reasoned conservatism that's getting harder to find.