ABSTRACT
The first justice of the US Supreme Court of Italian American ancestry, Antonin G. Scalia has advanced constitutional interpretations grounded in late-twentieth-century conservatism. In 1972, Scalia became general counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy in the Executive Office of the President. Beginning in 1977, Scalia was a scholar in residence at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, and that fall he became a law professor at the University of Chicago. In July 1982, President Ronald Reagan nominated Scalia to serve as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He wrote opinions in 133 cases, of which 90 addressed the statutory powers of federal agencies. Scalia was nominated to fill Rehnquist's associate seat. The Senate voted 98-0 to confirm Scalia. Scalia soon voiced a distinctive jurisprudence. Drawing on "legal process" legal theory, Scalia has supported judicial deference to legislative decisions and limits on judicial inquiry into new forms of rights claims.
