April 16, 2012
On April 2-3, 2012, the Law School welcomed United States Supreme
Court Justice Antonin Scalia to campus.
The visit began on Monday afternoon with Justice Scalia’s
participation in the Colloquium on Law and Religion, an
innovative new seminar directed by Professors
Mark L. Movsesian and
Marc O. DeGirolami of the Law School’s
Center for Law and Religion. The Colloquium brings leading law
and religion scholars to campus to discuss their work with selected
students. The students prepare short analytical papers in response
to the scholars’ writings and then engage the scholars in class.
Justice Scalia spoke about several of the Court’s recent religion
clause cases and fielded questions on subjects like the original
meaning of the religion clauses, the effectiveness of history as a
check on the Court and the balance the Constitution strikes between
public religiosity and minority rights. “I came to law school
excited about the opportunity to debate constitutional law with my
classmates,” said Yosefa Heber, one of the students in the
Colloquium. “I never imagined that I would get the opportunity to
discuss the cases with one of the Justices himself. It was
fascinating to hear Justice Scalia express his views on the meaning
of the religion clauses and respond to student questions and
criticisms of his approach.” Professor Movsesian added: “I was so
proud of our students. They asked great, thoughtful questions and
were ready when the Justice came back with some of his own. The
Justice remarked to me afterwards how impressed he was with the
students’ abilities.”
Colloquium Photo Gallery
The following day, Justice Scalia returned to the Law School for a
full day of activities as part of the Sixth Annual Honorable Joseph
W. Bellacosa Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence Program. After
a discussion with Law School faculty members, Justice Scalia spent
the afternoon teaching Professor DeGirolami’s Constitutional Law
class. He then joined Judge Joseph W. Bellacosa ’61, ‘87HON and a
standing-room only audience of students, faculty, administrators
and alumni for a “conversation” in the Belson Moot Court Room. The
Bellacosa Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence Program was established
by alumni and friends of Judge Bellacosa, who served for 14 years
as an Associate Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals before
returning to St. John’s as Dean of the School of Law from 2000 to
2004.
Jurist -in-Residence Photo Gallery 1
Jurist -in-Residence Photo Gallery 2
Jurist -in-Residence Photo Gallery 3
Opening the program, Dean
Michael A. Simons noted that the two featured participants
followed parallel paths: from their boyhoods in New York City,
through Catholic high schools and colleges, to distinguished
careers in the legal academy and public service, culminating with
Judge Bellacosa’s elevation to New York State’s highest court and
Justice Scalia’s appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judge Bellacosa then guided the conversation with Justice Scalia
though a range of subjects, including the importance and impact of
oral argument in the Supreme Court and the craft of writing
judicial opinions. Countering a common perception that oral
advocacy at the appellate level is unimportant, Justice Scalia
remarked that although oral argument rarely changes his mind in a
case, it often helps him make up his mind by highlighting crucial
points. On opinion writing, the Justice emphasized the importance
of clear and straightforward prose that avoids legalese.
Justice Scalia then opened the floor to the audience, taking
questions from students and alumni on such topics as his purpose in
asking questions from the bench, what he looks for in law clerks
and whether he has ever cast a vote that he later regretted. At the
reception following the program, Justice Scalia took time to talk
with law students, faculty and the many Law School alumni in
attendance.
Reflecting on the program, Dean Simons noted that “a distinguishing
feature of the Bellacosa Jurist-in-Residence Program is that it is
about teaching our students. Over the course of his visit ― in
teaching two classes, in the conversation with Judge Bellacosa and
in all his interactions with our students ― Justice Scalia
demonstrated that he is still a teacher at heart.”
Past Jurist-in-Residence honorees have included Chief Judge Judith
S. Kaye (New York State Court of Appeals), Justice Dennis W. Archer
(Michigan Supreme Court), Chief Justice Frank J. Williams (Rhode
Island Supreme Court), Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick (New York
State Court of Appeals) and former New York State Governor Mario
Cuomo. In addition to Justice Scalia ― who first visited St. John’s
in 2000 ― the Law School has hosted and honored five other members
of the current Supreme Court: Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy, Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas. In
October 2012, Justice Elena Kagan will be a Visiting Jurist at the
Law School.