Biographies of the Justices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biographies of the Justices - Essay Example He stands out as a judge with a moderate judicial temperament who has equally pleased and disappointed both conservatives and liberals. Appointed by a Republican president, Souter had been expected by some to be a solid conservative on the court. Nevertheless, his Oyez biography notes that he has shored up the "moderate camp" of the Court and has been instrumental in preventing it from shifting too far to the right. This propensity to avoid extremes is, to me, a desirable characteristic in a person who wields tremendous influence over the lives of so many people The justice whom I like the least is Antonin Scalia (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/103/). Here is a justice who has ruffled feathers both on the Court and off. He has a confrontational and abrasive style that has led to consternation among his associates and his opponents, while usually pleasing extreme conservatives. He takes a very dogmatic and red-line view of the law that leaves little room for nuance. Unfortunately, the complexity of many issues that can come before the Court often requires a more nuanced approach in order to reach the optimal decision. Scalia is also the justice who surprised me the most. I had always considered him to be an unabashed conservative in the political sense of the word.