The Sexual Orientation Cases

This paper assesses Scalia’s contribution to a series of cases, spanning much of his thirty years tenure on the court, which addressed issues relating to sexual orientation discrimination. The argument put forward is that these cases severely undermine any claim that Scalia might make to having been a distinguished judge in an intellectual or juridical sense. The pervasive theme of Scalia’s opinions in these matters is that of a constant failure to respect traditional tenets of legal reasoning and a compulsive inclination to engage in abusive castigation both of the litigants challenging the discriminatory laws and his judicial colleagues who did not agree with his viewpoint.