The late, long-serving Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was known as a deeply intelligent and deeply conservative jurist, unwavering in his promotion of the doctrine of “originalism” in interpreting the Constitution.
Or perhaps “interpreting” is the wrong word, as originalism essentially claims that interpretation of the law is superfluous and unnecessary — and that only “application” of the law is required.
Maddening to liberals — though famously friendly with left-leaning Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg (see below) — Scalia remained principled in his originalist approach, even as critics claimed his originalism was more right-leaning than pure.
Ruth Ginsberg disagreed with her bench partner Antonin Scalia on a lot of things. Yet they were the best of friends. Listen to what she had to say at his service
— sanjoy ghose (@advsanjoy) October 25, 2023
Undaunted by criticism, Scalia held that when a law was written in the Constitution, the Court had no reason or justification to contort or distend what it decreed in order to fit more modern circumstances.
Scalia, who died in 2016 after 30 years on the Supreme Court, is back in the news this week — preaching from the grave, as it were, against the legal premise the Trump administration is using to deport migrants, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, without due process.
The Fifth Amendment reads in part: “No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; …”.
It applies to any “person,” not only to citizens.Scalia agrees, so….. pic.twitter.com/D2cKKjTFQl
— Nathan Madden #DitatDeus (@NathanMadden98) March 28, 2025
In light of the Supreme Court decision today halting the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants without due process, Scalia’s plainspoken defense of the right of “anyone present in the United States” to be afforded due process is now being widely circulated.
For Republicans who claim to love the Constitution:
Even the late Justice Scalia made it clear—immigrants have fundamental rights under the Constitution, including due process. “Persons,” not just citizens.
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) April 18, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Below is Trump advisor Stephen Miller articulating the White House position that due process is not the right of migrants the Trump administration is deporting — an argument that flies in the face of Scalia’s assertion.
WATCH: Stephen Miller tries to insist Venezuela is “invading”
to justify Trump deporting alleged gang members with zero due process, claiming judges have no jurisdiction.
(Reminder: TBI claimed TDA was in all our cities when police had no idea what they were talking about) pic.twitter.com/SR4krxryS1
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) March 17, 2025
And as with Liz Cheney, Dick Cheney and other staunch anti-Trump conservatives who have warned on rule-of-law peril, Scalia is being put forward by liberals who have hardly ever agreed with his viewpoints before — another example, historians say, of how far Trump’s MAGA movement has moved on from hard-right conservative views into autocratic territory.
In the interview above, Scalia was asked about who was entitled to the five freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution — and his answer was unambiguous and inclusive of all those present on American soil.
[NOTE: The Five Freedoms protected by the First Amendment: 1. Religion 2. Speech 3. Press 4. Assembly 5. Petition]