The “Supreme Semester” Continues:  Justice Scalia’s Day at RWU Part 2

Justice Scalia’s visit to RWU last month marked a change for the Justice, who apparently has decided to become even more of a public figure, as suggested in a recent story from USA Today and an in-depth interview on 60 Minutes. Click here for USA Today and here for 60 Minutes.
I thought it would be interesting to provide a little of the back-story of the RWU visit.

First, you may not know that Justice Scalia has been immortalized as one of a series of “Supreme Court Bobbleheads,” distributed in extremely limited editions.  (There is even a robust secondary market for them on eBay.) I have managed to get my hands on all of those released to date (Rehnquist, O’Connor, Stevens, Kennedy, and Scalia), and Scalia was obviously pleased to see the entire set for the first time.  If you look closely at this picture, (taken at his meeting with student leaders), you will see the Scalia bobblehead accompanying the Justice.

Another highlight occurred at the end of the day when Justice Scalia met with Siobhan Gannon, whose grandfather attended high school with the Justice.  When Siobhan’s grandmother heard that the Justice was coming to RWU Law she dug around and found a copy of the Xavier High School poetry magazine, which contained a poem by Antonin Scalia.  The Justice was clearly delighted to see the publication, wisecracking that “they should never publish poems written by high school boys.” Here is a picture of the Justice with Siobhan.

Finally, I wanted to share an interesting comment the Justice made at lunch after responding to a series of tough questions thrown his way by the faculty.  He said (and this is a paraphrase): “I know you all take great pride in your scholarship, but in my view your legacy is much more likely to come from the students you teach and thus the lives you change.”