1. Home
2. Daily News
3. Scalia’s Talk at Tea Party Event Was…

Scalia’s Talk at Tea Party Event Was ‘Pretty Dry,’ Democratic Congresswoman Says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 26, 2011, 1:44 pm CST

Justice Antonin Scalia told lawmakers how to write legislation that can withstand constitutional challenge during a much-criticized closed-door appearance organized by the House Tea Party caucus.

U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., told The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times that he didn’t see anything partisan in Scalia’s speech. “He was just expressing his views,” Nadler said. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., told reporters that much of the discussion was “pretty dry, actually,” report The BLT and the Los Angeles Times.

According to The BLT, Scalia advised lawmakers to be as specific as possible when writing legislation and to be aware of constitutional boundaries. He also talked about his opposition to the idea of a “living Constitution,” Schakowsky said, and told lawmakers they should read the Federalist Papers.

In a Q-and-A session after his speech, Scalia said once again that he was willing to overturn Roe v. Wade and believed a line-item veto could be constitutional, Nadler said.

Some critics have claimed that Scalia’s appearance at a Tea Party event, though open to Democrats, had the appearance of partisanship. University of Virginia law professor A.E. Dick Howard wasn’t concerned, however.

“The Tea Party members may learn something from hearing a justice talk about the Constitution,” he told the Los Angeles Times.