Justice Scalia's 60 minute interview and an extract from his new book - Making your case

Justice Scalia gave an open interview in 60 minutes revealing aspects of his philosophy of originality. He confirmed his view that the Constitution is not a living document. It was drafted and signed by its creators and stands in its original form to be interpreted as such. It does not deal with issues of torture or abortion. Changing law is something that should be dealt with by Congress. An interesting interview, and insight into this very bold and influential Justice.

"Scalia has said that "the Constitution is an enduring document but not a 'living'
one, and "its meaning must be protected and not repeatedly altered to suit the whims
of society." Scalia states that an originalist or a textualist takes meaning
from the Constitution "from its text, and that meaning does not change." The
text itself should be augmented only by examining what the Framers of the
Constitution intended at the time, not by what a majority in society today might
prefer. Scalia believes that his approach is the only way we can preserve the
Constitution's guiding principles. Judges who do not adopt an originalist or
"textualist" approach, according to Scalia, have no judicial philosophy and issue
rulings based on the majority view of society at the time. He believes that the
answer for advocates of controversial issues is to gather enough support from the
public and pass laws, rather than to have the Supreme Court Justices continually
revise their views of the Constitution in order to satisfy society." (from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=463664)

Follow the following links:

For an extract of the book :
http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/making_your_case

For the interview:

Scalia Part 1

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4048750n

Scalia Part 2

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4048752n