And now, a judicial-sightation-cum-discovery-request. Article III Groupie is wondering the same thing as PG of Crescat Sententia. To the New Yorkers in UTR's readership: Was anyone at this event, and if so, what did Justice Scalia discuss in his remarks?
With all due respect to the brilliant and hilarious Justice Antonin Scalia, he is best known for his superbly written judicial opinions, not for his views on the arts (although he does have a well-known love for the opera). In terms of Justice Scalia's prior pronouncements on the arts, in addition to the items identified by PG, A3G immediately thought of Nino's remarks at the oral argument of Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition. Dahlia Lithwick offered this account of the argument:
Justice Scalia is the standard bearer for the all-child-copulation-is-obscene-garbage school of jurisprudence today. As the court debates the artistic and social merits of simulated sex between minors in movies such as Traffic, Lolita, or Titanic, Scalia snaps: “I don’t know whether they depict simulated sexual activity or not. I didn’t see any of those movies.” Later, he pillories Louis Sirkin, counsel to the pornographers, with, “I’m trying to think of what works of art would be taken away from us if I can’t see adolescents copulating.”
Sirkin offers him a who’s who of art-house classics: “Lolita, Tin Drum, Traffic, Brooke Shields movies that maybe some people don’t enjoy ...” Scalia, clearly in the “some people” camp, sneers back that none of these are great works of Western art. When [Justice] Stevens tries to give Sirkin a hand, suggesting Romeo and Juliet as a helpful example of tasteful kiddie porn, Scalia turns on him too. “Gee, you’ve seen a different version than me,” he laughs.
So, was anyone at the Juilliard School event earlier this afternoon? What did Justice Scalia talk about? And did he ask not to be seated next to Stephen Sondheim -- the openly gay musical theater composer, who most definitely engages in sodomy* -- based on "cooties avoidance" concerns?
A3G would be most grateful for a full report on the proceedings. Much thanks!
* Apparently Sondheim isn't the only one. (Gavel bang: Gawker.)
I attended (tickets were circulated to students at some NYC law schools) and will try to post some recollections later, but in the meantime there's this AP report: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050923/ap_on_go_su_co/scalia_art
Posted by: Zev | September 23, 2005 at 03:38 AM