Antonin Gregory Scalia was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative wing. For catalyzing an originalist and textualist movement in American law, he has been described as one of the most influential jurists of the twentieth century, and one of the most important justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Scalia was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018, and the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University was named in his honor.
Official portrait, 2013
Ronald Reagan and Scalia (his nominee) in the Oval Office, July 7, 1986
Judge and Mrs. Scalia (left) and President Reagan (right) watch as Chief Justice Warren Burger swears William Rehnquist in as the next Chief Justice, September 26, 1986.
The 2009–2010 Court, with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and retiring justice David Souter with Scalia fourth from right
Originalism is a method of constitutional and statutory interpretation. Most Originalists assert that legal text should be interpreted based on the original understanding at the time of adoption, while some also incorporate original intent. Originalists object to the idea of Judicial activism and other significant legal evolution being driven by judges misusing the common law framework. Instead, Originalists argue for democratic modifications of laws through the Legislature or through Constitutional amendment.
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Howard Chandler Christy
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (pictured) was a firm believer in originalism.