Wednesday
Mysterious
I missed seeing Justice Scalia speak here today, but I'm bothered by some things I heard about how he was treated. Apparently, during the Q & A, he was asked at least one question which wasn't designed to disagree with his judicial opinions, but rather to pretty seriously personally insult him. I think the school made a good choice to invite him, because an academic institution is a place to hear from people who you vehemently disagree with. This is especially true for someone like Scalia, where the deep and acute disagreements with him are about his incorrect understanding of what the Constitution mandates. I also think that it was a good idea for student groups which opposed his decisions to protest him. It is surely worthwhile to make a public statement about how wrong a lot of people think Scalia's opinions have been. But personal attacks should be out of bounds. They cast a negative light on the school and make it less likely that both Scalia and other people with controversial views will be willing to speak at this school.
Update: Since the most offensive "question" asked of Scalia was published in the NYU student newspaper today, I can quit being needlessly coy about it. He was asked, "Do you sodomize your wife?"
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Update: Since the most offensive "question" asked of Scalia was published in the NYU student newspaper today, I can quit being needlessly coy about it. He was asked, "Do you sodomize your wife?"
