Remembering Justice Scalia’s visit to Baylor

Following the passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia this past weekend, I was reminded of the longtime justice’s visit to Baylor almost a quarter-century ago, just six years into his three-decade stint on the nation’s highest court.

Justice Scalia gave two public speeches during his April 1992 visit to Baylor. As keynote speaker at a 1992 Baylor symposium sponsored by the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, Scalia explained to a standing-room-only audience in Jones Theatre how the Supreme Court approaches First Amendment cases. The next day, he spoke to more than 400 students, alumni and friends in the Cashion Academic Center on the role legislative history plays in deciding cases.

[Read original coverage of Justice Scalia’s visit from The Baylor Lariat and Docket Call, a Baylor Law School newsletter]

Scalia — then one of the Court’s younger members — also spent time at Baylor Law School during his visit, observing students in action and attending a practice courtroom session taught by Professor Gerald R. Powell. He even donned a Baylor Law sweatshirt for photos in the law school (see the picture above)!

In an interesting connection, one of the leading candidates to replace Justice Scalia on the Court, Judge Sri Srinivasan, was a guest of Baylor just last fall for an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Srinivasan joined Baylor President Ken Starr and Fifth Circuit Judge Thomas M. Reavley for a panel discussion on the difference between the rule of law and the rule of judges. (Watch the entire panel here.)

Sic ’em, Baylor Law!

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* Baylor Law to honor pioneering female graduate (July 2015)
* President Starr joins Justices O’Connor and Souter on Harvard Law-hosted panel (April 2013)
* Sandra Day O’Connor speaks at Baylor, studies BU students’ research on iCivics (May 2012)