ApexNews
Return to Main
Book

In Scalia's Shadow: The Trump Supreme Court

2017

Synopsis

“The totally unexpected loss of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a massive setback for the conservative movement and our COUNTRY.” Note then GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in his tweet on Scalia’s death in February, 2016, capitalized country. Trump made sure one and all knew that the death of the ultra-conservative lightening rod, Justice Scalia was not just a setback for conservatives but the nation. Trump’s mourning for Scalia was not campaign hyperbole or a cheap effort to capitalize on his death to ingratiate himself with the ultra-right. On more than one occasion on the campaign trail, he didn’t hesitate when asked who he most admired on the High Court. His answer was immediate: Judge Scalia. Clarence Thomas was a close second in his pantheon of most admired SCOTUS justices.

Trump made clear his hero worship of Scalia was based squarely on the fact that the long sitting judge on the bench was the embodiment of hard-line, take-no-prisoners ultra-conservative, strict constructionist principles. But Scalia was more than a rightist ideologue on the court. He was hawk like in pouncing on any issue that even remotely strayed from his rigid view of conservative legal principles. He never shirked from cajoling, hectoring, and ruminating on any and every point of constitutional law as he interpreted it. His self-appointed mission was to stiffen the spine of conservatives on the bench on the big-ticket issues whether they be torpedoing voting rights to upholding corporate power.

So, Trump’s quest was to make sure that Scalia’s judicial legacy would be preserved at all costs on the Supreme Court. Trump understood that another Scalia could potentially enshrine the ultra-conservative position on all issues of law and public policy for years, maybe even decades, to come.
In Scalia’s Shadow: The Trump Supreme Court, political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson assesses the devastating impact that another Scalia on the Supreme Court will have on law and public policy. And why Trump in his homage to Scalia at his death capitalized COUNTRY.

Suggested Reading

Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936 to 1986

With SCALIA: Rise to Greatness, 1936–1986, the opening installment in a two-volume biography, acclaimed reporter and bestselling historian James Rosen provides the first comprehensive account of the life of Justice Antonin Scalia, whose singular career in government—including three decades on the Su...

Purchase on Amazon View Details

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

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...

View Details

Latest News

March 22nd, 2022

The Supreme Court has a Clarence Thomas (and Ginni Thomas) problem

September 20th, 2021

We're watching the implosion of the Supreme Court in real time

February 26th, 2021

Conservatives on the Supreme Court Are Trying to Quietly Toss Aside Federalism

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By continuing to browse, you accept our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.