Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito mourned the death of Justice Antonin Scalia but made no mention of the court’s vacant seat in a speech at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention on Thursday.
Alito spoke at length about Scalia’s lasting impact on the court and the “constitutional fault lines,” that divide the country, without any discussion of how Scalia’s legacy would be affected President-elect Trump’s upcoming appointee.
“He changed the way the court works,” Alito said about Scalia at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. “Take oral arguments. … When Nino joined the court, oral argument was transformed. It was a contact sport.”
Alito said Scalia’s approach to oral arguments and his distinctive opinion-writing style intended for an audience of law students set the late justice apart. Alito talked at length about how Scalia’s commitment to originalism changed the nature of debate about the law, and Alito argued that Scalia was “the most theoretical justice to ever sit on the Supreme Court.”
The “constitutional fault lines” erupting nationwide identified by Alito involved executive branch power grabs, freedom of speech, and religious liberty, among other contentious issues. Alito fondly remembered Scalia’s refusal to compromise and his willingness to speak out no matter the cost as the hallmarks of the late justice’s character, while speaking about how contentious cases are being decided in Scalia’s absence.
Nine individuals identified on President-elect Trump’s shortlists to fill the court’s vacancy will make public appearances at the Federalist Society convention this week. The Federalist Society’s Leonard Leo met with Trump at his New York City tower on Wednesday and discussed the evaluation process regarding candidates the vacancy. Whether the president-elect’s list has narrowed since it’s public release is unknown, but Leo indicated that Trump assured him he would fill the vacant seat with an individual already named on the publicly released shortlists.
