Justice Antonin Scalia dispelled some media portrayals of the Supreme Court and described his judicial views in an address at Duke Thursday.
Scalia spoke to a group of approximately 200 students and spectators in the School of Law's Star Commons.
"The press likes to paint the court to make it more interesting, as if we're all on each other's throats. Nine scorpions in a bottle," he said. "It's not that at all."
Scalia, an originalist interpreter of the Constitution, believes that freedom of speech and press under the First Amendment protect all forms of communication.
"The two are fairly understood as standing for all expression and communication," he said.
Scalia responded with humor to one question concerning the free speech of exotic dancing.
"I like it," he joked, adding that it does not fall under the protection of the First Amendment. "I draw a line there, I don't think that means communication."
Scalia, who has conservative views, referred to liberal-leaning Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the closest of his colleagues.
Having served under former chief justice William Rehnquist, Scalia said he has not seen much change in the way the Supreme Court operates under Chief Justice John Roberts.
"Not really much, he hasn't run it much differently from Rehnquist," he said.
After Justice Scalia's address, he visited classes, talked to student groups and served in a panel of judges for the final round of Moot Court Board's 2009 Dean's Cup Competition.
The competition consisted of two groups of two students at the School of Law. Each group argued a case involving a request for discharge from duty, under the pretext of conflicting religious beliefs.
The petitioners were Jessica Rivera and David Maxted, both third-year students. Moot Court Co-chair Adam Doverspike, a third-year Law student, and Kristin Cope, a second-year Law student, served as respondents and won the competition.
Grady Jolly, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge, and Allyson Duncan, 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge and Law '75, made up the rest of the panel of judges.
The finalists found the judges to be thorough with their questions.
"We expected them to be pretty critical. Justice Scalia is a pretty infamous, vociferous questioner, so we were expecting the worst," said Maxted.
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