Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia was the first American of Italian heritage to be appointed to the Supreme Court. A graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, he has taught at the University of Virginia and at Stanford. When President Reagan nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1986, the Senate approved the nomination unanimously. His forceful personality, sharp wit and manifest love of legal debate have made him an unusually vivid presence in the traditionally somber atmosphere of the United States Supreme Court. He is frequently characterized as the most conservative justice, but he has always placed adherence to the letter of the law above political ideology. Justice Scalia is heard here in discussion with 200 students from around the world, moderated by Chris Matthews, newspaper columnist and host of the MSNBC program Hardball.