大法官Scalia

大概几个月前，听NPR讲了一个故事：Scalia V. Ginsburg: Supreme Court Sparring, Put To Music。有一个学法律的学生，本身是个作曲家，念书念烦了，突然想干脆写个歌曲，把这两个大法官当男女主角，歌词完全用他们自己的话。Scalia代表着最高法院的保守派，Ginsburg是自由派，两人在每个决定上都针锋相对。但私下却是好朋友，尤其都喜爱歌剧，经常一起去看歌剧。他写信去问两个大法官他是否可以这么做，两个法官都回信说根据宪法第一条，他完全可以。于是，男高音Scalia就唱到：

Oh, Ruth, can you read? You're aware of the text. Yet so proudly you've failed to derive its true meaning.

当然，这个时代的Diva也不示弱的：

How many times must I tell you, dear Mister Justice Scalia, You'd spare us such pain if you'd just entertain this idea. You are searching in vain for a bright-line solution, To a problem that isn't so easy to solve. But the beautiful thing about our Constitution is that Like our society, it can evolve. 

大法官Scalia前几天心脏病突发去逝了。昨天，他的遗体回到了最高法院的大厅里。当年林肯被暗杀后，遗体也放在这里和公众告别，所以也叫Lincoln Catafalque 。可惜在DC，要不然我一定去和他道别。

虽然他是一个地地道道的保守派，但特别喜欢他的写作风格，雄辩，尖刻，准确：

Glossip v. Gross, 2015

Concurrence in ruling that upheld states' use of a controversial form of lethal injection in death penalty cases:

"A vocal minority of the Court, waving over their heads a ream of the most recent abolitionist studies (a superabundant genre) as though they have discovered the lost folios of Shakespeare, insist that now, at long last, the death penalty must be abolished for good."

Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015

Dissent from ruling that struck down state bans on same-sex marriage:

"The world does not expect logic and precision in poetry or inspirational pop-philosophy; it demands them in the law. The stuff contained in today’s opinion has to diminish this Court’s reputation for clear thinking and sober analysis."