Transcripts For CSPAN Memorial Service For Supreme Court Jus

I dont see where its ever going to get more reasonable. The stakes are very high. Not only are both sides at fault , but the other thing to keep in mind is that both sides often overwhelmingly vote to confirm judges because they are put forward and are overwhelmingly qualified. This complicates the situation. Its one of the reasons why republicans dont even want to hold hearings because someone like david kelly being confirmed by 96 to zero in iowa, virtually any of the names that you heard floated or potential picks by president obama. There are republican senators, like orrin hatch, who have come out and said extremely positive things about them because they are very qualified. Once you begin the process there is the danger that there is no way to stop it. Host bottom line, does know me know from senator senator mcconnell . Sen. Leahy yes mr. Bresnahan yes. Host to both of you, thank you for being with us on newsmakers. We appreciate it. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] in yesterdays contest, democratic president ial sanderse senator bernie won the caucuses in kansas and nebraska while Hillary Clinton one the primary vote in louisiana. On the republican side, donald trump one in louisiana, kentucky , and ted cruz took maine and kansas. Our road to the white house coverage continues today with governor john kasich, live at a rally in columbus, ohio. Appearing with him will be former california governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at 2 30 p. M. Eastern here on cspan. So many of my former books for horizontal studies. Many countries across all region. The ends of the year, covering a minimum of six countries. Here i look at one country in depth and they use it to explore great themes. I think great themes. The holocaust. The cold war. The challenge of vladimir putin. Remember, romania and romania speaking although the have a greater border moldova have a greater border with them. Tonight, Robert Robert pablum, and author of in europes shadow. He talks about the history of the balkan states and the romanian struggle to gain democracy since the fall of congress communism. Me growia was endemic up. Endemic late endemicly corrupt. Everything was based on bribes and doubledealing. The shows that this is nothing new. What is happening is that the romanian population has grown up and become far more sophisticated and is demanding clean government. It is the number one demand. Eastern on at 8 p. M. Q a. Service onorial tuesday, Supreme Court justices gave tributes to their late , justice Antonin Scalia. The chief justice and several of also inr justices were attendance. Justice scalia passed away february 13 while visiting a texas ranch. He was appointed to the high court by president Ronald Reagan in 1986. This is about one hour and 10 minutes. Good afternoon. Welcome. We are touched to be joined this afternoon by the chief justice of the United States and all of my fathers former colleagues from the court. As well as as well as many other distinguished guests and friends. This is an opportunity to do two things that we didnt have a chance to do earlier this month at the beautiful funeral mass. To hear some words in tribute to my fathers life and career and second, for family and friends to spend some time together in the reception afterward. Convey myt begin to thoughts about my father in the small amount of time i have a lot of for myself, so i thought i would limit myself to just one recollection, a dinner parties at my parents had years ago. The guests had just left and my father and i were standing in the front hallway. My father looked at me and said that is why you need to work hard. So you can have friends like bob bork. Of course, he was referring to judge bork. [laughter] ray quickly, i wanted to tell you was not to underscore that he did not mention any of the people in this room today. [laughter] the point instead was that he was referring to many who are here today and many other friends as well. This was a father telling his collegeage son why it was important to work hard and succeed in he wasnt talking about power. He was also not talking about material gain, although that is less of a surprise, since as my mother used to occasionally point out, this was a man who had seemed to spend so much of his career looking for a job that would pay less than the one that he had at the time. [laughter] wasinstead my father speaking to me on the words of friendship, collegiality, and camaraderie. Speaking of people who could keep pace with him, educate him, entertain him, humor him, challenge him and pressing to be better. People like my mother. He was speaking of people like his law clerks, who were very important to my father and mother and i like family to us today. He was speaking of people like those who have agreed to speak this afternoon. After a prayer by father scalia i should say to you that he is phibro to us. Hear from justice thomas. And then from judge silverman at the court of appeals here in washington, who will unfortunately have to leave immediately afterwards to teach a class. We will then hear from my sister, catherine, from justice ginsburg, and two of my fathers former clerks, john manning and Justice Joan Larsen of the michigan Supreme Court, who has been a professor and practitioner. Case, myoften the sister, mary, will have the last word. [laughter] i should be careful. Receptionve a immediately afterward. Thank you again for coming this afternoon. [applause] if i could ask you all to please stand as we begin with prayer . Almighty god, as we gather here to honor and remember your servant, Antonin Scalia at, we ask now for your blessing. Make us mindful that every good gift comes from you. That we see his gift as coming from your goodness and intended for your glory, so that in honoring him, we honor you, the creator and redeemer. May his example of public more closelyus all in our pursuit of the common good for our nation. Conscious, also, of his imperfections we ask you in your mercy that he may rejoice in your presence. We pray this, as you live and reign, forever and ever, amen. For this, i feel quite inadequate to the task and i find this very difficult. Thank you, father. Maureen, our thoughts and prayers remain with you and your family. We pray that god will bring comfort and peace to you. To each of you. I was truly blessed to have had knee now in the court when i became a member in 1991. Timeswas blessed many over the almost 25 years that we served together. Chats,ere countless walking to chambers, after sitting, or after our conferences. Those very brief visits usually involved more laughter than anything else. A joke. Funny word a memory. And there were many buck each other up visits. Too many to count. [laughter] there were many checking on one another after one of us had had an unpleasant experience daily. [laughter] and there were calls to test an idea or work through a problem. I treasure the many times we had lunch with our law clerks at a. V. s, where he invariably had an anchovy pizza. My clerk family and i will continue this tradition by always toasting nino as we gather. Which is pretty regularly. But no anchovy pizza. I love the eagerness and satisfaction in his voice when he finished a writing with which he was particularly pleased. Clarence, you have got to hear this. \[laughter] this is really good. [laughter] whereupon he would deliver a dramatic reading. After fumbling with his computer for a while. He worked hard to get things right. The broad principles and the details of law. Grammar. Syntax and vocabulary. He was passionate about it all. And it was all important to him. None was beneath him and all deserved and received his full attention. In sports parlance he, gave everything, 110 . For the past few years, my place on the bench has been between nino and our friend, steve breyer. I loved the back and forth that took place. Especially the passing of notes from steve to nino and nino to steve and the whispered or muttered or more appropriately muttered commentary. When nino wanted to talk quietly with me about issuing he would lean far back in his chair and say in an almost endearing tone, brother clarence, what do you think . And of course he would offer his opinion of the on various matters. On one occasion he, commented that in typical nino fashion, that one of our opinions that had become an important precedent was, and i quote, just a horrible opinion. One of the worst ever. I thought briefly about what he had said and whispered, nino, you wrote it. [laughter] in a sense, it is prove den rble and certainly not probable that we would serve together. I only knew of him, but had never met him. He was from the northeast while i was from the southeast. He came from a house of educators and i from a household of almost no formal education. But we shared our catholic faith and our jesuit education as well as our sense of vocation. For different reasons, and from different origins, we were heading in the same direction. So we walked together and worked together for a quarter century. And along the way, we developed an unbreakable bond of trust and deep affection. Many will fittingly, deservedly, and rightfully say much about his intellect and jurisprudence. But there is so much more to this good man. As one of our colleagues said the other day, he filled the room, his passion, his sense of humor, were always un were always on full display. And so was his love for maureen, his family, his church, our country, and our constitution. Yesterday, i finished eric metaxass biography of dietrich bonhoeffer. One of the last acts of hitler before germany was defeated was to have this man execute. I thought of this memorial here today as i read the eulogy of bonhoeffer. With apologies, i borrow from it liberally and quote it loosely. With him, a piece of my own life is carried to the grave. Yet, yet our eyes are upon thee. We believe in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. We give thanks to god for the life, the suffering, the witness of our brother whose friends we were privileged to be. We pray god to lead us too through his discipleship from this world into his heavenly kingdom, to fulfill in us that other word that bonhoeffer used, \[speaking latin] while in god confiding, i cannot but rejoice. God bless you, brother m mechanics brother nino, god bless you. \[applause] thank you, clarence. Maureen, scalia family, distinguished guests, a number of scholars and practicing lawyers have spoken at length about Justice Scalias extraordinary impact on american jurisprudence. Though ive been an admirer of his for a number of years, except on the rare occasions when he voted to overturn one of my opinions, there is no need for me to add to this outpouring of praise. Instead, i speak as one of his oldest friends. In 1974, after the notorious saturday night massacre, i came into the Justice Department as Deputy Attorney general under attorney general bill saxby, the former senator. The department was largely cut off from the white house. I have said we were obligated to carry out the president s policy, except insofar as we were bound to support the special prosecutors investigation of the president. Surely that was the most extraordinary task of any Justice Department in american history. I found many of the senior appointees, president ial appointees in the Justice Department in shock and understandably rather jumpy. Mo the most important assistant attorney generals position, certainly at that point, was the one in charge of the office of legal counsel. The indumb went was incumbent was played out, having to navigate through the watergate reeds. He needed to be replaced. We wanted a brilliant lawyer with steel nerves. I was charged with finding a successor. A list of candidates was compile. The first person i interviewed was Antonin Scalia. He occupied a quasiacademic role as chairman of the council. I have never been so impressed. I immediately offered him the post subject to the tonchinges approval. White house approval in those days was perfunctory given the president s weakness. Scalia was nominated by Richard Nixon but appointed by new president gerald ford. Almost immediately, nino was plunged into the most dell cant tasks. I had stopped the white house from allowing the moving truck from carting off the former president s papers until we formally opined as to whether he owned them. Nino fashioned a brilliant opinion based on historical precedent, establishing nixons ownership but the congress intervened. That led to extensive litigation before he was sustained. I was enormously impressed. Then came a less serious legal issue, but admittedly an intensely personal one. Bill simon, the deputy secretary of treasury, an enormously wealthy man, was designated the energy czar but president ford. And he issued an order depriving all Department Deputies of their car and driver. I planned to resign because i was so financially strapped i couldnt afford to buy another car. To my astonishment, nino devised an exception for me. \[laughter] the arranged for my car to have a police radio in the back and he obtained a gun permit for my chauffeur. That qualified my car as a Law Enforcement vehicle. \[laughter] i could see he would be sound on the second amendment. I immediately began to think of him as a Supreme Court nominee. In any event, we became close friends. After we left government, we both, along with bob bjork, went to a. E. I. Where we enjoyed brown bag lunches with a group of distinguished, mostly conservative, intellectuals and plotted a legal counterrevolution. Nino and i stayed in constant touch when he returned to academia at the university of Chicago Law School and i went into the private sector. In 1980, as chairman, i recruited him to join a committee of lawyers and law professors, supporting Ronald Reagan. As i recall our committee included everybody who ultimately became a judge. After the election, i recommended nino for various posts, including the one he accepted a seat on the d. C. Circuit. Ideally fitted for an Administrative Law expert. We often turned to each other for career advice. When he was subsequently offered the solicitor general post, i advised him strongly to turn it down. I contended that his choice his chance of a Supreme Court nomination would be reduced if he took that post because of the hot button social issues. Issues with which the solicitor general would have to contend he agreed. Then a year ago he a year later he returned the favor by talking me into joining him on the d. C. Circuit. In 1986, i was thrilled when he came to my office to tell me privately that he was to be the Supreme Court nominee. He asked me to represent him, which i immediately agreed to do. He asked me for two reasons. He thought the likeliest issues involved the proper limits that should bind a judges answer to final question from senators. And secondly, of course, i was free. [laughter] for a brilliant judge, nino was hopelessly impractical. I was going through his papers, i saw that at t owed him a substantial amount of money. I was stunned. Turned out he had done Legal Consulting work some years before he was a judge and had forgotten to send a bill. He asked me, so help me he, asked me if he should clean up his accounts by sending the bill now. I told him sadly that would be rather awkward if at t sent him money after his nomination. Then before the hearings were even started he, came to me concerned about what he thought might be an ethical question. Senator byrd, the powerful West Virginia senator, had invited nino to join him on the columbus day parade in charleston, long after the hearings would be over. I laughed. I told him that he was going to be confirmed regard lofse the hearing as the first Italian American on the court. We teased each other constantly about our different ethnic backgrounds. He told me as a new yorker he understood jewish culture better than i did. Which was true. [laughter] but i could be defensive. We were both invited to a small dinner party of harvard graduates to meet the new president of harvard, Neil Rubinstein who happened to be half italian and half jewish. We were both concerned about the sweep of Political Correctness on the campuses. He spoke and answered questions for over an hour. Afterwards, as we left, we agreed that he sounded good only about half the time. [laughter] then we got into a fierce argument with historical allusions as to whether the good half was italian or jewish. Recently, i was drawn to new techniques developed by various organizations to explore ones genetic background. My wife did a test for me and i turned out to be much more finnish than jewish. I told nino and he was anxious to take the same test. Maureen was quite apprehensive. She was worried that her irish superiority over italians could be jeopardized. Though i dont feel free to disclose the complete scalia report, sure enough, nino turned out to have a healthy dose of irish genes. Though much of the advice we gave each other will remain private, one issue we discussed has only in the last few days become public. In 1996, as senator dole was winning the nomination battle, nino called me with momentous news he had been approached by congressman boehner, apparently on senator doles behalf, inquire whether he would be willing to be the vicepresident ial candidate. I knew that he loved his time on the court but he could not help but be flattered. And if dole were elected, who knew what a vice presidency could lead to. And it was a shrewd notion. Nino, as you all know, had enormous charm. Indeed, it had been thought when he was nominated his charm would be employed to cobble together conservative majorities on the court. Much like Copyright National<\/a> cable satellite corp. 2016] in yesterdays contest, democratic president ial sanderse senator bernie won the caucuses in kansas and nebraska while Hillary Clinton<\/a> one the primary vote in louisiana. On the republican side, donald trump one in louisiana, kentucky , and ted cruz took maine and kansas. Our road to the white house coverage continues today with governor john kasich, live at a rally in columbus, ohio. Appearing with him will be former california governor Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/a> at 2 30 p. M. Eastern here on cspan. So many of my former books for horizontal studies. Many countries across all region. The ends of the year, covering a minimum of six countries. Here i look at one country in depth and they use it to explore great themes. I think great themes. The holocaust. The cold war. The challenge of vladimir putin. Remember, romania and romania speaking although the have a greater border moldova have a greater border with them. Tonight, Robert Robert<\/a> pablum, and author of in europes shadow. He talks about the history of the balkan states and the romanian struggle to gain democracy since the fall of congress communism. Me growia was endemic up. Endemic late endemicly corrupt. Everything was based on bribes and doubledealing. The shows that this is nothing new. What is happening is that the romanian population has grown up and become far more sophisticated and is demanding clean government. It is the number one demand. Eastern on at 8 p. M. Q a. Service onorial tuesday, Supreme Court<\/a> justices gave tributes to their late , justice Antonin Scalia<\/a>. The chief justice and several of also inr justices were attendance. Justice scalia passed away february 13 while visiting a texas ranch. He was appointed to the high court by president Ronald Reagan<\/a> in 1986. This is about one hour and 10 minutes. Good afternoon. Welcome. We are touched to be joined this afternoon by the chief justice of the United States<\/a> and all of my fathers former colleagues from the court. As well as as well as many other distinguished guests and friends. This is an opportunity to do two things that we didnt have a chance to do earlier this month at the beautiful funeral mass. To hear some words in tribute to my fathers life and career and second, for family and friends to spend some time together in the reception afterward. Convey myt begin to thoughts about my father in the small amount of time i have a lot of for myself, so i thought i would limit myself to just one recollection, a dinner parties at my parents had years ago. The guests had just left and my father and i were standing in the front hallway. My father looked at me and said that is why you need to work hard. So you can have friends like bob bork. Of course, he was referring to judge bork. [laughter] ray quickly, i wanted to tell you was not to underscore that he did not mention any of the people in this room today. [laughter] the point instead was that he was referring to many who are here today and many other friends as well. This was a father telling his collegeage son why it was important to work hard and succeed in he wasnt talking about power. He was also not talking about material gain, although that is less of a surprise, since as my mother used to occasionally point out, this was a man who had seemed to spend so much of his career looking for a job that would pay less than the one that he had at the time. [laughter] wasinstead my father speaking to me on the words of friendship, collegiality, and camaraderie. Speaking of people who could keep pace with him, educate him, entertain him, humor him, challenge him and pressing to be better. People like my mother. He was speaking of people like his law clerks, who were very important to my father and mother and i like family to us today. He was speaking of people like those who have agreed to speak this afternoon. After a prayer by father scalia i should say to you that he is phibro to us. Hear from justice thomas. And then from judge silverman at the court of appeals here in washington, who will unfortunately have to leave immediately afterwards to teach a class. We will then hear from my sister, catherine, from justice ginsburg, and two of my fathers former clerks, john manning and Justice Joan Larsen<\/a> of the michigan Supreme Court<\/a>, who has been a professor and practitioner. Case, myoften the sister, mary, will have the last word. [laughter] i should be careful. Receptionve a immediately afterward. Thank you again for coming this afternoon. [applause] if i could ask you all to please stand as we begin with prayer . Almighty god, as we gather here to honor and remember your servant, Antonin Scalia<\/a> at, we ask now for your blessing. Make us mindful that every good gift comes from you. That we see his gift as coming from your goodness and intended for your glory, so that in honoring him, we honor you, the creator and redeemer. May his example of public more closelyus all in our pursuit of the common good for our nation. Conscious, also, of his imperfections we ask you in your mercy that he may rejoice in your presence. We pray this, as you live and reign, forever and ever, amen. For this, i feel quite inadequate to the task and i find this very difficult. Thank you, father. Maureen, our thoughts and prayers remain with you and your family. We pray that god will bring comfort and peace to you. To each of you. I was truly blessed to have had knee now in the court when i became a member in 1991. Timeswas blessed many over the almost 25 years that we served together. Chats,ere countless walking to chambers, after sitting, or after our conferences. Those very brief visits usually involved more laughter than anything else. A joke. Funny word a memory. And there were many buck each other up visits. Too many to count. [laughter] there were many checking on one another after one of us had had an unpleasant experience daily. [laughter] and there were calls to test an idea or work through a problem. I treasure the many times we had lunch with our law clerks at a. V. s, where he invariably had an anchovy pizza. My clerk family and i will continue this tradition by always toasting nino as we gather. Which is pretty regularly. But no anchovy pizza. I love the eagerness and satisfaction in his voice when he finished a writing with which he was particularly pleased. Clarence, you have got to hear this. \\[laughter] this is really good. [laughter] whereupon he would deliver a dramatic reading. After fumbling with his computer for a while. He worked hard to get things right. The broad principles and the details of law. Grammar. Syntax and vocabulary. He was passionate about it all. And it was all important to him. None was beneath him and all deserved and received his full attention. In sports parlance he, gave everything, 110 . For the past few years, my place on the bench has been between nino and our friend, steve breyer. I loved the back and forth that took place. Especially the passing of notes from steve to nino and nino to steve and the whispered or muttered or more appropriately muttered commentary. When nino wanted to talk quietly with me about issuing he would lean far back in his chair and say in an almost endearing tone, brother clarence, what do you think . And of course he would offer his opinion of the on various matters. On one occasion he, commented that in typical nino fashion, that one of our opinions that had become an important precedent was, and i quote, just a horrible opinion. One of the worst ever. I thought briefly about what he had said and whispered, nino, you wrote it. [laughter] in a sense, it is prove den rble and certainly not probable that we would serve together. I only knew of him, but had never met him. He was from the northeast while i was from the southeast. He came from a house of educators and i from a household of almost no formal education. But we shared our catholic faith and our jesuit education as well as our sense of vocation. For different reasons, and from different origins, we were heading in the same direction. So we walked together and worked together for a quarter century. And along the way, we developed an unbreakable bond of trust and deep affection. Many will fittingly, deservedly, and rightfully say much about his intellect and jurisprudence. But there is so much more to this good man. As one of our colleagues said the other day, he filled the room, his passion, his sense of humor, were always un were always on full display. And so was his love for maureen, his family, his church, our country, and our constitution. Yesterday, i finished eric metaxass biography of dietrich bonhoeffer. One of the last acts of hitler before germany was defeated was to have this man execute. I thought of this memorial here today as i read the eulogy of bonhoeffer. With apologies, i borrow from it liberally and quote it loosely. With him, a piece of my own life is carried to the grave. Yet, yet our eyes are upon thee. We believe in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. We give thanks to god for the life, the suffering, the witness of our brother whose friends we were privileged to be. We pray god to lead us too through his discipleship from this world into his heavenly kingdom, to fulfill in us that other word that bonhoeffer used, \\[speaking latin] while in god confiding, i cannot but rejoice. God bless you, brother m mechanics brother nino, god bless you. \\[applause] thank you, clarence. Maureen, scalia family, distinguished guests, a number of scholars and practicing lawyers have spoken at length about Justice Scalias<\/a> extraordinary impact on american jurisprudence. Though ive been an admirer of his for a number of years, except on the rare occasions when he voted to overturn one of my opinions, there is no need for me to add to this outpouring of praise. Instead, i speak as one of his oldest friends. In 1974, after the notorious saturday night massacre, i came into the Justice Department<\/a> as Deputy Attorney<\/a> general under attorney general bill saxby, the former senator. The department was largely cut off from the white house. I have said we were obligated to carry out the president s policy, except insofar as we were bound to support the special prosecutors investigation of the president. Surely that was the most extraordinary task of any Justice Department<\/a> in american history. I found many of the senior appointees, president ial appointees in the Justice Department<\/a> in shock and understandably rather jumpy. Mo the most important assistant attorney generals position, certainly at that point, was the one in charge of the office of legal counsel. The indumb went was incumbent was played out, having to navigate through the watergate reeds. He needed to be replaced. We wanted a brilliant lawyer with steel nerves. I was charged with finding a successor. A list of candidates was compile. The first person i interviewed was Antonin Scalia<\/a>. He occupied a quasiacademic role as chairman of the council. I have never been so impressed. I immediately offered him the post subject to the tonchinges approval. White house approval in those days was perfunctory given the president s weakness. Scalia was nominated by Richard Nixon<\/a> but appointed by new president gerald ford. Almost immediately, nino was plunged into the most dell cant tasks. I had stopped the white house from allowing the moving truck from carting off the former president s papers until we formally opined as to whether he owned them. Nino fashioned a brilliant opinion based on historical precedent, establishing nixons ownership but the congress intervened. That led to extensive litigation before he was sustained. I was enormously impressed. Then came a less serious legal issue, but admittedly an intensely personal one. Bill simon, the deputy secretary of treasury, an enormously wealthy man, was designated the energy czar but president ford. And he issued an order depriving all Department Deputies<\/a> of their car and driver. I planned to resign because i was so financially strapped i couldnt afford to buy another car. To my astonishment, nino devised an exception for me. \\[laughter] the arranged for my car to have a police radio in the back and he obtained a gun permit for my chauffeur. That qualified my car as a Law Enforcement<\/a> vehicle. \\[laughter] i could see he would be sound on the second amendment. I immediately began to think of him as a Supreme Court<\/a> nominee. In any event, we became close friends. After we left government, we both, along with bob bjork, went to a. E. I. Where we enjoyed brown bag lunches with a group of distinguished, mostly conservative, intellectuals and plotted a legal counterrevolution. Nino and i stayed in constant touch when he returned to academia at the university of Chicago Law School<\/a> and i went into the private sector. In 1980, as chairman, i recruited him to join a committee of lawyers and law professors, supporting Ronald Reagan<\/a>. As i recall our committee included everybody who ultimately became a judge. After the election, i recommended nino for various posts, including the one he accepted a seat on the d. C. Circuit. Ideally fitted for an Administrative Law<\/a> expert. We often turned to each other for career advice. When he was subsequently offered the solicitor general post, i advised him strongly to turn it down. I contended that his choice his chance of a Supreme Court<\/a> nomination would be reduced if he took that post because of the hot button social issues. Issues with which the solicitor general would have to contend he agreed. Then a year ago he a year later he returned the favor by talking me into joining him on the d. C. Circuit. In 1986, i was thrilled when he came to my office to tell me privately that he was to be the Supreme Court<\/a> nominee. He asked me to represent him, which i immediately agreed to do. He asked me for two reasons. He thought the likeliest issues involved the proper limits that should bind a judges answer to final question from senators. And secondly, of course, i was free. [laughter] for a brilliant judge, nino was hopelessly impractical. I was going through his papers, i saw that at t owed him a substantial amount of money. I was stunned. Turned out he had done Legal Consulting<\/a> work some years before he was a judge and had forgotten to send a bill. He asked me, so help me he, asked me if he should clean up his accounts by sending the bill now. I told him sadly that would be rather awkward if at t sent him money after his nomination. Then before the hearings were even started he, came to me concerned about what he thought might be an ethical question. Senator byrd, the powerful West Virginia<\/a> senator, had invited nino to join him on the columbus day parade in charleston, long after the hearings would be over. I laughed. I told him that he was going to be confirmed regard lofse the hearing as the first Italian American<\/a> on the court. We teased each other constantly about our different ethnic backgrounds. He told me as a new yorker he understood jewish culture better than i did. Which was true. [laughter] but i could be defensive. We were both invited to a small dinner party of harvard graduates to meet the new president of harvard, Neil Rubinstein<\/a> who happened to be half italian and half jewish. We were both concerned about the sweep of Political Correctness<\/a> on the campuses. He spoke and answered questions for over an hour. Afterwards, as we left, we agreed that he sounded good only about half the time. [laughter] then we got into a fierce argument with historical allusions as to whether the good half was italian or jewish. Recently, i was drawn to new techniques developed by various organizations to explore ones genetic background. My wife did a test for me and i turned out to be much more finnish than jewish. I told nino and he was anxious to take the same test. Maureen was quite apprehensive. She was worried that her irish superiority over italians could be jeopardized. Though i dont feel free to disclose the complete scalia report, sure enough, nino turned out to have a healthy dose of irish genes. Though much of the advice we gave each other will remain private, one issue we discussed has only in the last few days become public. In 1996, as senator dole was winning the nomination battle, nino called me with momentous news he had been approached by congressman boehner, apparently on senator doles behalf, inquire whether he would be willing to be the vicepresident ial candidate. I knew that he loved his time on the court but he could not help but be flattered. And if dole were elected, who knew what a vice presidency could lead to. And it was a shrewd notion. Nino, as you all know, had enormous charm. Indeed, it had been thought when he was nominated his charm would be employed to cobble together conservative majorities on the court. Much like William Brenham<\/a> had forged different kinds of majorities. Of course that was an illusion because nino cared more about judicial reasoning than judicial result. The latter would only follow the former. Only those justices less concerned with reasoning can he or she bargain so effectively. I told him i thought he would be an enormously effective politician, i was brutally honest. I asked him if he wanted to return to law practice or teaching . That took him back. I explained i was virtually certain dole would lose. He declined the offer. I should have included i should include a description of one of the most frightening days of my life. Nino, with two tickets to a baltimore oriolesyankees game invited me to join him. Most human beings have an inboard computer gene that prevents them driving at high speed too close to the car in front of them so theres sufficient room to stop. Nino apparently lacked that gene. By the time we reached the stadium, i was sick to my stomach. I had gotten nowhere asking him to back down. Then we sat on the orioles section of the stadium. In the midst of a group of rather large, fierce, beerdrinking oriole fans. Nino began to bellow, supporting encouragement for the yankees. Combined with loud criticism of the umpires. After several innings, one of the largest and ugliest oriole fans tapped nino on the shoulder he said if you dont shut up, im going to punch you in the nose. Nino turned to me. Should i tell him who nino was . I said no. It was more likely to get us punched. Although over the years, we played poker together, took our shotguns together to a gun club, most notably every few months we lunch aid loan, invariably over it was more likely to get us punched. Although over the years, we played poker together, took our shotguns together to a gun club, most notably every few months we lunch aid loan, invariably over pizza and red wine. I had lunch with nino a few weeks ago at our new pizza joint. We discussed the present political chaotic situation. I wish i could relate our common views but of course it would be improper. So ill leave it to my memoirs. I hate to contemplate the end of those lunches. I will miss nino terribly. Thank you. [applause] welcome, family, friends, father paul. We are gathered here because of one man. Ms. Courtney a man who was the only son, called father by many, revered by many, a man who espoused justice and truth that man, of course, is Antonin Scalia<\/a>. Since dad died, my siblings and i have been compiling a list of dadisms via email, shooting them off to each other as they come to our heads. When i said to my brother matthew i didnt know why i said i could speak, he said, but youre not jus anybody, youre a scalia. Then he said, so dont screw it up. I hope dad will forgive me if i do screw it up he might ask, is this of general interest . Yes, it is. In one of as one of the minority in his 54 split of children, i want to share some of what my father was to me. I was at the top half of the batting order, another ninemember american institution, so for the first decades of my life, as far as i was concerned, dad was a Justice Department<\/a> lawyer or a law professor who couldnt seem to hold down a job. During those know madic years, between genes in cleveland and dads appointment in washington, we moved eight times. There were a few constants, besides the likelihood that there was a new baby on the way. One constant was mass on sunday. And yes, every holy day, even the one that fell right in the middle of our beach vacation. And another nonnegotiable was family dinner every night. As busy as he was and as committed as he was to his work, dinner was a priority. If he could make the time we were expected to be there too. Finally, we had each other. Which was the greatest gift. No matter where we lived, we were the scalia family and we knew that was something important. Thats not to say it was easy being the daughter of nino scalia. He could be demanding. And at times impatient even. He was a poor estimator of travel time. Never allowing quite enough time to get to that latin mass which was actually 45 minutes away, not 30. He was a stickler about words, pronunciation and grammar, which wasnt always a fun time. I mean, it wasnt always fun. Cherry, not chairy. As the season of an italian presser, dads gift with words and language was in his blood. He still newsom german and could bluff his way through italian and latin, of course, but few know he was fluent in another, obscure language, the op language. He had learned it as a kid in queens and he taught it to us as children. Being able to carry on a conversation in op was a source of family pride. Also a good party trick. I was proud to say my name was [indiscernible] [laughter] i cherish my mental snapshots of dad on all fours chasing us through the house as the tickle monster. A dollop of shaving cream on my nose when i went up to say goodbye before school. Belting out my uncle roasted a kangaroo or mr. Froggy went acourting at the piano. Waving his arms at the grill, commanding the saturday hamburgers to be juicy reading fairy tales, not disneys rapunzel or the little golden books version of snow white. He was an originalist, after all. So our bedtime story were the brothers grimm. And old an old box cloth hard cover edition with grotesque illustrations. I will let the legal world discuss his legacy but for me, one decision stands alone above all others. That was the landmark decision of 1960 to marry maureen mccarthy. She was the perfect foil. Anyone who knows mom knows shes as smart as, dare i say smarter than, dad. I can tell you for sure if it was help with math homework, you wouldnt go to him. As he used to say, he did the constitution, and she did everything else. The daytoday running of the business that was a large family fell to mom. But he never made her work seem any less important than his own and he gave her credit for it. He used to jokingly say that she was a wonderful little woman and we all knew that deep down he, meant it. Packing up a huge household for each of those moves, making sacrifices to stretch a public ver vis Service Salary<\/a> to plead and feed and clothe a large family, fighting to raise us in the catholic faith in an increasingly secular world. She supported him and stood by him so he could focus on what they both saw as his vocation. Im so grateful i was given the opportunity to travel with mom and dad a few years ago to galway. For the first time and with a little unexpected help, i got to appreciate what i had never noticed before as a kid. His zest for life, going at full speed, trying to see it all and cram it all in. And his partnership with mom. He taught a class each morning for the new England School<\/a> of law, met us back at the house for a quick lunch, then wed hit the road. Mom was tour guide. She had the books with the turned down pages and the post it notes and she read out our itinerary as he took the wheel. What old church are we going to see today, maureen, hed ask. And hed complain about the clouds we always seemed to be following, but this was a really out that this was a really out of the way place that bikes shouldnt be allowed on the roads in ireland, and its best not to say what happened when he caught sight of the European Union<\/a> flag. Now, nino, mom would say. But heres the thing. He always ended up doing what she told him to. This was their shtick and it had taken me 40something years to see it. He defered to mom, respected her opinions and was happy following her lead when he knew it was important to her. The scalia family is so grateful for all the prayers, memories and recollections from all of you and from stagers shared over the last few weeks. I know for all of us, especially for mom, theyve been a source of great comfort and sonslation and theyve been an affirmation that his was a life well lived and he will be missed. \\[applause] in my treasuretrove of memories, an early june morning, [applause] ms. Bader ginsburg in my treasuretrove of memories, an early june morning, 1996. I was about to leave to attend a judicial conference at lake george. Justice scalia entered, painers in his hand, toss manage pages on my desk he, said, ruth this is the penultimate draft of my dissent in the v. M. I. Case. Its not yet in shape to circulate to the court but i want to give you as much time as i can to answer it. On the plane to albany, i read the dissent. It was a zinger. This will come as cant miss this page, its too good. This is very stage, i have every other page in here. You know, it must be it must be in the bag that i well, anyway. It was this wolf comes as a wolf variety and took me to task on things large and small. Among the disdainful footnotes, the court refers to the university of virginia at charlottesville. There is no university of virginia. I wonder, professor christopher, would your day say the same thing today . Thinking about fitting responses consumed my weekend but i was glad to have the extra days to adjust the courts opinion. My final draft was much improved, thanks to Justice Scalias<\/a> searing criticism. Another indelible memory, the day the court decided bush v. Gore. December 12, 2000. I was in chambers, exhausted after the marathon review, review granted saturday, brief filed sunday, oral argument on monday and opinions completed and released on tuesday. No surprise, Justice Scalia<\/a> and i were on opposite sides. The court did the right thing he, had no doubt. I kiss agreed and explained why in a dissenting opinion. Around 9 00 p. M. , the telephone, my direct line, rang. It was Justice Scalia<\/a>. He didnt say, get over it. Instead, he asked, ruth, why are we still at the court . Go home and take a hot bath. Good advice i probably followed. Among my favorite scalia stories, when president clinton was mulling over his first nomination to the Supreme Court<\/a>, Justice Scalia<\/a> was asked, if you were stranded on a Desert Island<\/a> with your new court colleague, who would you prefer . Mario cuomo or larry tribe . Justice scalia answered quickly and distinctly, ruth bader ginsburg. [laughter] 33 and within days, the president chose me. Among Justice Scalias<\/a> many talents, he was a discerning shopper. Together in 1994, our driver took us to a carpet shop, one rug after another was tossed on the floor, leaving me with no clue which to chose. He pointed to one he thought maureen would like for their beach house in north carolina. I picked the same design in a different color. It has worn very well. Once asked how we could be friends given ourties agreement on lots of things, Justice Scalia<\/a> answered, i attack ideas, i dont attack people. Some very good people have some very bad ideas. [laughter] and if you cant separate the two, youve got to get another day job. You dont want to be a judge, at least not a judge on a multimember panel. Well known ill stration, Justice Scalia<\/a> was very fond of justice brenen, as Justice Brennan<\/a> was of Justice Scalia<\/a>. I will miss the challenges and the laughter he provoked, his pungent, eminently quotable opinions so clearly stated that his words never slipped from the readers grasp. The rose he is brought me on my birthday. The chance to appear with him once more as supernew mexico rares as the opera. As supernumeraryies at the opera. Justice scalia described that as the peak of his days in d. C. , an evening in 2009 at the opera ball at the british ambassadors residence. When he joined two Washington National<\/a> opera tenors at the piano for aed me lee of songs. For a medley of songs he called it the famous three tenors performance. [laughter] he was indeed a magnificent performer. How blessed i was to have a working colleague and dear friend of such captivating brilliance, high spirits, and quick wit. In the words of a duet for tenor scalia and soprano ginsburg, we were different, yes, in our interpretation of written texts, yet one in our reverence for the court and its place in the u. S. System of governance. [applause] mr. Manning scalia family, my fellow law clerks and other distinguished guests. I was one of Justice Scalias<\/a> early law clerks and today ill say a few words about what it was like to clerk for the great man and then a bit about his larger impact on the law. Let me start with the clerkship. The scalia chambers were a tad raucous. Believe it or not, some people think of conservatives as formal and hierarchical. Justice scalia was anything but that. Although he was, as he joked, a supreme justice, and we were but five youngsters fresh from law school, he made it clear that no argument was out of bounds. At the clerk conferences that preceded the conferences of the court, it was basically a free for all. All the clerks would argue with one another and with the justice, strongly, passionately. Often embarrassingly loudly. And completely without fear that we would offend the boss. And while three of us were conservative and two were liberal, our differences in those clerk conferences rarely split along political lines. That was not what the job was about. His job was to apply legal methodology that he thought appropriate to a life tenure judge in a constitutional democracy and our job was to help him do that. Period. There was an openness to all of this that made us feel perfectly safe to disagree, even sharply at times, with the justice. Now im not saying that we didnt have our moments of doubt. As anyone who clerked for him could tell you, sometimes youd be making a point and hed sort of make a face. [laughter] tilt his head. Furrow hisboro brow. And hed stare into space for what seemed like an abnormally long time. It was disquieting. But we soon figured out that that was just his thinking face. And what it meant was that he was actually thinking hard about what we were saying. And about the only time that he overtly pulled rank was when one of us got a little bit over invested and hed have to say, hey, remember, its my name that has to go on the opinion. And especially with me, for some reason, it was often followed by the further observation, and im not a nut. [laughter] the whole thing was unforgettable. The experience changed my life. His openness. His enthusiasm. His clarity. His playfulness. His common sense. His commitment to principle. All of this made even the blandest legal issue seem vivid and human. And consequential. It is simply not natural to feel as strongly ased me as he made us feel about legislative history, about the harmless error doctrine, about the borrowing of statutes of limitation, about the level of generality of some ancient common law tradition. Indeed, i confess that it may not be perfectly healthy to feel as strongly as i do about the chevron doctrine to this very day. [laughter] but im working on it. And that was Justice Scalias<\/a> difficult he took the boring, mundane, technical, everyday work of the law and he showed us what was at stake for a constitutional democracy. Maybe thats why he got so much done. Just think about statutes. Very easy to forget how different the world was before Justice Scalia<\/a>. How much the court leaned on legislative history. How readily the court enforced the spirit rather than the letter of the law. These practices had gone on largely unquestioned for generations and in some cases for centuries. And in no time at all, Justice Scalia<\/a> changed the terms of the debate he showed that it was all about the allocation of power. His resistance to legislative history was not empty formalism, it was about checking the legislative power from congress and the president to unrepresentative committees, legislators, staff or lobbyists. His preference for letter over spirit was not just a better way of finding legislative intent. It was about protecting the messiness of american democracy. Against the selfaggrandizing me summings that judges could and should gloss over the awkward compromises that are the staple of our legislative process and by extense of our democracy itself. All of this was really exhilarating. In fact, its what inspired me to go into law teaching. And in the many times Justice Scalia<\/a> visited harvard in the years since ive been there, he inspired my students as well. He inspired them with his plain spokenness, his openness, his willing to take seriously the criticisms of legal novices he did not know and would not see again. His acknowledgment to total strangers that he did not always get things right. His sense of humor. His generosity of spirit. And the simple power of his ideas. He was a force of nature. And year after year, i have had the experience of one or more of my onels, coming up to me, looking stricken and saying to me, professor manning, im a liberal. Is it ok that i agree with Justice Scalias<\/a> opinion . And i do my very best to reassure them theres nothing wrong with you. Its hard to believe hes no longer here. But i cling confidently to the thought that Justice Scalia<\/a> will continue to teach students long into the future. That because of his clarity, his commitment to principle, and his courage, his ideas will long outlive his days on earth. I myself will try to honor his memory by always remembering his lesson that ones commitment to principle is tested only when it hurts. Justice scalia was a great justice. He was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. He was also a wonderful friend. He was kind. And funny. And generous. I can never repay the debt i owe him. 3like so many of us here today, i would not have the life i have, a life i love, had it not been for Justice Scalia<\/a>. Thank you. [applause] ms. Larsen like professor manning, i, too, am a former scalia clerk and im sure i speak for all the former clerks when i thank mrs. Scalia and the rest of the family for your incomparable generosity to us over the past few weeks. In the midst of your own incalculable grief you recognized our mourning and graciously reached out and included us, despite our numbers. It is an honor to be with you and be part of the memorial for our beloved boss and we thank you. The clerks have been talking over the past few weeks and many have commented on just how hard it was to stand vigil over the justice as he lay in repose in the great hall. Alone with our thoughts as we stood on the cold marble floor, memories came flooding back. Most of the clerks reported that the most challenging thing was not to keep from crying, for that might have been forgiven, but instead, to keep from grinning. That is because the justice was fundamentally a happy man and it is impossible to remember him without remembering the zeal with which he embraced life. Even when things were not going well for him at the courts, he was generally upbeat. He sang in his chambers, he whistled in the corridors, his sonorous laugh reverberated throughout he courtroom. His wit was sharp and he delighted in testing it against anyone who was foolish enough to try. He held us and himself to very high standards. And he was sometimes impatient when we fell short of the mark. But he was always quick to forgive, teach, and to move on. I remember keenly the time i committed what in his chambers amounted to a mortal sin. I handed him a draft opinion which cited websters third. And this just one term after his famous dictionary case, m. C. I. V. At t had made it clear for all the world that in his estimation, the third edition of websters was no dictionary at all. [laughter] did you not read the opinions of this court before you came to join us here . He boomed. Displeased, but not quite angry. The prudent response at that moment, of course, would have been to beg the opinion back, to return to my chambers, to expunge all references to websters third, and to instead present him with a shining new draft in which the o. E. D. Displayed prominently. But panic must have overtaken my brains executive function. [laughter] and instead, i foolishly tried an excuse. Um, yes, justice, i said. I remembered that you had strong views about dictionaries, its just that i couldnt remember which one it was that you didnt like. [laughter] and so i made sure to only work off the one you keep on display in your front office. [laughter] his eyebrows rose. What momentarily flashed as anger in his eyes immediately softened into disbelief. [laughter] it was no longer about me or the opinion. But about the prospect that that blasphemous book could be residing in his front office. I could see it thinking, it could not be so. He rose and walked to the dictionary stand. Taking the open pages of the book in his hands, he proceeded , in painstakingly slow fashion, to slip the cover. And then thunk, the front of the book met the back. He glanced down at the cover. And then up at me. I dared for a nanosecond to feel redeemed, even victorious. [laughter] and then, without a moment lost, he quickly regained the advantage. This, my dear, he said, is but a trap laid for the unwary. [laughter] i had been careless, reckless, even impudent, and i had been schooled. But i had also been forgiven. I am often asked what it was like to be a clerk for Justice Scalia<\/a>, and more particularly to be a woman clerking for Justice Scalia<\/a>. Much like being a man clerking for Justice Scalia<\/a>, is my response. [laughter] i have spoken to many of the justices female clerks in the days since his passing, and the same story repeats. He demanded as much from us as from our brethren, and he gave us just as many opportunities to show our stuff. What better preparation for any of us, male or female, than to have matched wits with the justice. Though we almost always came up short should not be dwelled upon, that was inevitable. What is remarkable is that he cared enough about us to ask our opinions and to debate with us when he disagreed. What was in this for him, i often wondered . He could easily have done the job without us. But what was in it for us was invaluable. With each thrust and parry, we got sharper. What an incomparable gift to a young lawyer. As we have grown in our legal careers, the lessons of the clerkship have stayed with us. We each have our favorite grammatical lesson. Never use impact as a verb. The possessive case must precede a gerund. A condition counter to fact subjunctive. And his habits of careful thought, meticulous research, and economy of language are ones we all tried of the clerks have said that when they write, they still write for him. That has been my own experience. As i struggle to write my own first opinions, i was nearly paralyzed by the thought that he might someday read them. [laughter] and this, the writing of an opinion, leads me in a roundabout fashion to a story i would like to end with. Its a story i meant to tell the justice. I called angela a few weeks back to ask when he might be in chambers. Just wednesday next week, she replied. Then hell be heading out of town. Wednesday came, and i was deep into writing a bear of an opinion. The day slipped away. Ill call him monday, i thought. And then monday never came. But i thought i would share with you now what i wish i had shared with him then. As a new justice on the michigan Supreme Court<\/a>, i have been making the rounds, introducing myself to the people of my state. Speaking to small groups in Church Basements<\/a> and libraries and courthouses. Twice in the weeks before his passing, the most extraordinary thing happened. When i got to the part of my bio where i say, and then i clerked for Justice Scalia<\/a>, some members of the audience spontaneously burst into applause. These were not groups of lawyers or judges. Just groups of ordinary michiganders. The first time this happened, ill admit, i was startled. Most people, after all, cannot name a Supreme Court<\/a> justice. [laughter] fewer still have formed an opinion. I said as much and that i would be sure to pass their enthusiasm along to the justice. He would like to hear that, i said. And then i went on with my remarks. At the end of my speech, a member of the audience stuck up his hand. Who did you say you clerked for again . I thought to myself, did this guy walk in late . We just had this whole thing, but i answered, Justice Scalia<\/a>. And this time, most of the crowd rose to their feet and gave him a standing ovation. The gentleman who had stuck up his hand then commented, we just wanted to have the chance to do that for him again. Me too. [applause] ms. Murray they put me last as some cruel sibling punishment. But only because im the middle of the nine, and thats what i have to deal with. They did, generously, give me the opportunity to tell you that for the closing reception, we will return to the state and east rooms where we were for the welcome, right across the hall from the ballrooms. So i want to thank you for being here and for your kind words of sympathy for your wonderful affection for our father. For the stories of your friendships and most especially for your prayers. There have been many remarks about dads faith and the central role it played in his life. And for many of us, the only way to comprehend the loss of our father, friend, or colleague is to place it in the framework of gods plan and gods mercy. Particularly during this year, which pope francis has named the year of mercy. When we say his faith was important to him, some may understand that to mean, he was catholic, he went to church. What dads, and really mom and dads, practice of faith meant for us was that growing up we , never missed sunday mass unless we were sick. In which case we better plan on staying in that bed for the whole day. [laughter] and that, as a family, we drove however far was necessary to find what dad considered an appropriate liturgy. [laughter] our sundays in chicago were especially adventurous. Rather than walking 10 minutes to the neighborhood church, dad drove us 30 minutes to a city church led by italian priests , whose accents were so thick, i never knew when they were speaking english or latin. [laughter] we can tell stories about this as part of our strict upbringing , but what that approach to faith did for us was give us a framework of obedience to the church and instill in us an acceptance of the basic obligations we owe her. We also learned that though worship is a deeply personal experience, it is built on centuries of tradition and history rich with meaning. Faith in our home was also the intellectual exercise of explaining the teachings of the church through reason. There were frequent conversations about sermons, good and bad. And about why the church taught certain things and why the teachings made sense for mankind, why we could understand them as truth. In the many stories that have been published or shared since dads death, ive continued to grow in my understanding of my father and in his daily exercise of gods love, which is what mercy is. His ability to form deep, lifelong friendships with people of varying views, his generosity and humility in reaching out to others, to strangers, to people from all walks of life. And now, the unbelievable outpouring of respect and affection from people throughout the country because of what he symbolized to them. These are the fruits of my fathers faith and of gods mercy through him. The events of the last two weeks have been physically and emotionally exhausting but also spiritually renewing. The procession of thousands of americans through the Supreme Court<\/a> as dad lay in repose brought many of us great consolation. As for the funeral mass, we really did initially consider a small, private, latin mass. Thats what dad would have wanted. But it fell to me to remind my mother, as it so often does, since when do we care what dad wants . [laughter] he wouldnt want us to change our way of doing things. [laughter] as a family, we recognize the final opportunity to pray as a church with his body should he shared with the large numbers","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia601308.us.archive.org\/19\/items\/CSPAN_20160306_153000_Memorial_Service_for_Supreme_Court_Justice_Antonin_Scalia\/CSPAN_20160306_153000_Memorial_Service_for_Supreme_Court_Justice_Antonin_Scalia.thumbs\/CSPAN_20160306_153000_Memorial_Service_for_Supreme_Court_Justice_Antonin_Scalia_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240624T12:35:10+00:00"}