Facing page: Te student body gave a standing ovation to Justice Antonin Scalia in Wade Auditorium after he addressed the student body. Top: Students and faculty listening attentively to Justice Scalia.


approximately 750, Justice Scalia spoke for almost 20 minutes with no prepared notes. He started by sharing with the crowd the two things he teaches when speaking overseas. First, he explained, contrary to what most think, the


source of our freedoms is not the Bill of Rights. Instead, it is the structure of our government. “Every tyrant, every banana republic, every despotic regime in the world has a Bill of Rights.” But, he added, if you do not have a structure that prevents the centralization of powers, it is only words on paper – “a parchment guarantee.” Addressing the concern of gridlock, he stated, “It’s what the system was designed for, so that only really good legislation would get passed.” Keep your eye on the structure, he warned. “It is destiny. Once power is centralized, the game is over.” His second point, also contrary to what most would think, was that the most important court it in the United States is not his – the United States Supreme Court; but instead it is the state supreme courts. Federal law is interstitial, he stated. Ninety percent of the law affecting the American citizen is state law. After explaining his two points, Justice Scalia did what most would be terrified to do – fielding questions from the general public. Justice Scalia received several questions about the quality of briefs and arguments he receives at the United States Supreme Court. He noted that the lack of quality most surprised him when he arrived at the Court twenty-seven years ago. In the old days, he explained, there was no such thing as a bar specializing


in appearing before his court. It was some lawyer “throwing away the opportunity.” Typically, he said with exasperation, it was an elected state attorney general who knew nothing about the case, but by golly he was going to take that opportunity to argue before the United States Supreme Court. With a sigh of relief, he noted that this has radically


changed. Today, there is a Supreme Court Bar with practitioners who appear before his court four to five and even seven to eight times a term. Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder expressed her agreement with the need for an appellate bar. “A lot of attorneys don’t have someone they can turn to when they have an appellate argument. Tey do it themselves. Tey may be very fine trial lawyers, but they don’t argue before a court of last resort very often,” Justice Holder told Te Commercial Appeal. Justice Scalia headed right back to the law school after the


luncheon. He first met with a small group of student leaders. Sitting everyone down at a table in the reading room, this Supreme Court Justice chatted with the students as if he was just hanging out with them. “It was definitely the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to sit down with him” explained Martha Crowder, a second-year law student. Of course, it would not be a visit from Justice Scalia


without talking about originalism. Justice Scalia addressed his theory of originalism with an in-depth lecture open to all law students later in the afternoon. Te room was full of law students who willingly delayed their winter break to hear the


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