How old is scalia

But he quickly became one of the court's most outspoken conservatives, serving as a steadfast opponent of gay rights and affirmative action in hiring and school admissions, and abortion rights. The landmark case of Roe v. Wade, he said, was wrongly decided, declaring rights that the founding fathers never intended. Nobody ever thought that they had been included in the rights contained in the Bill of Rights," he said once.

The nation's first Italian-American justice, Scalia didn't sugarcoat his often blunt dissents. Most recently, in December, he came under fire from civil rights attorneys and black lawmakers after suggesting African-American students might fare better in a "slower-track school" while hearing a case about race-based admissions.

But it was his comments over the years on gay rights that often caused the biggest waves: When the high court legalized gay marriage nationwide last June, Scalia said in his dissent: "Who ever thought that intimacy and spirituality [whatever that means] were freedoms? Ask the nearest hippie," he wrote. His candor wasn't limited to the four walls of the high court.

During a visit to Princeton University, a gay freshman asked Scalia about a comparison he had drawn in the past between banning sodomy and banning bestiality and murder. Though generally unsympathetic to criminal suspects, he led the court in expanding the rights of defendants to confront their accusers in court and limiting a judge's power to use evidence in sentencing unless it was proved during a trial.

Posted in Decade in review. Specifically, did Austin, Texas, violate the free-speech rights of advertising companies when it regulated "off-premises" business signs more strictly than "on-premises" signs? AHoweBlogger explains:. In , the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that an Arizona town could not impose different restrictions on the One case challenges Congress' exclusion of Puerto Rico from a federal safety-net program.

The other involves the right of death-row prisoners to receive spiritual guidance in their final moments. Two cases today: a lawsuit against the FBI for surveilling Muslim Americans, and a technical copyright dispute.

But some justices seemed reluctant to wade into broader questions about the right to carry guns in public. AHoweBlogger's full analysis:.

This article was updated on Nov. Justice Scalia Art Lien. In First Amendment challenge to city billboard rules, justices will be sign language interpreters - SCOTUSblog In , the Supreme Court unanimously agreed that an Arizona town could not impose different restrictions on the On June 25, , when the Supreme Court handed down a 6 to 3 majority decision in the case of King v.

Burwell , upholding a key component of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, Justice Scalia made headlines in voicing his dissent. He added: "The Court's decision reflects the philosophy that judges should endure whatever interpretive distortions it takes in order to correct a supposed flaw in the statutory machinery.

That philosophy ignores the American people's decision to give Congress '[a]ll legislative Powers' enumerated in the Constitution. One day after the Supreme Court ruling on the health care law on June 26, , the highest court announced a landmark 5 to 4 ruling guaranteeing a right to same-sex marriage.

Justice Scalia expressed his opinion that it was not the Supreme Court's role to decide same-sex marriage, and he wrote that the ruling was "at odds not only with the Constitution, but with the principles upon which our nation were built.

He reportedly died of natural causes, with later reports revealing that he had suffered from heart trouble and high blood pressure. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.

Anthony Kennedy is an American lawyer who served as an associate justice on the U. Supreme Court from until his retirement in Stephen Breyer is an associate justice for the U. Supreme Court, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton.

After a lengthy career as an attorney, Samuel Alito was confirmed as a U. Supreme Court Justice in Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a U. Supreme Court justice, the second woman to be appointed to the position. Elena Kagan is a Supreme Court justice and the first woman to serve as solicitor general of the United States of America.

Supreme Court Justice from to He was considered an expert on the common law. Janet Reno broke new ground in as the first woman to serve as U. Attorney General, serving under President Bill Clinton. Thurgood Marshall was instrumental in ending legal segregation and became the first African American justice of the Supreme Court. Antonin Scalia was best known as an Associate Justice for the U.