Mr. Tom DeCoursey’s editorial in which he condemned Justice Scalia for his rationalization of his partisan decisions, permanent sullying of the Supreme Court, and opposition to civil liberties was both factually inaccurate and tasteless.
Any Google search would bring up numerous cases in which Scalia voted to protect the civil liberties of Americans that Mr. DeCoursey claims were so damaged: Justice Scalia was the pivotal fifth vote in Texas v. Johnson (1989), a case that ruled that burning the American flag is a First Amendment right, and Scalia also wrote the opinion in Kyllo v. United States (2001), prohibiting the use of heat-seeking sensors to detect marijuana plants growing in a house in the absence of a search warrant.
Justice Scalia had nine children, 28 grandchildren, and was married to his wife Susan for 56 years. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, arguably the most liberal justice sitting on the bench at the moment, agreed with Justice Scalia on virtually nothing of legal substance yet was his close personal friend and would never hold, let alone express, such a low, crass sentiment. Mr. DeCoursey should be ashamed to go out of his way to do so publicly in print.
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagen, Sonia Sotomayor, or Stephen Breyer’s time comes, I will say a quick prayer for their families and be grateful for their devotion to the court and their job — and Mr. DeCoursey should do the same for Justice Scalia.
Abra Kaplan
Junior, Oak Park and River Forest High School
