It is not a faint-hearted manifesto.
Scalia calls himself a "faint-hearted" originalist, because contemporary conditions sometimes influence his reading of the Constitution.
In others, it recognises some of the positive aspects of the new Kenyan constitution and makes a faint-hearted but discernible effort to enshrine citizen rights.
In a 1989 article called "Originalism: the Lesser Evil," he called himself a "faint-hearted originalist," adding that he could not imagine "upholding a statute that imposes the punishment of flogging," which the constitutional framers approved.
Where he once described himself as a "faint-hearted originalist" and, in 1988, gave a speech called "Originalism: The Lesser Evil," he is now likely to say, when asked, for instance, how one could know precisely what a text meant two hundred years ago, that it is just "not that hard".
Manfred Weidhorn Fair Lawn, N.J., Jan . 9 2011 To the Editor: It is comforting to know that Justice Antonin Scalia has the good sense to refrain from following his originalist beliefs to their logical conclusion ("a faint-hearted originalist") and stops short of following Justice Clarence Thomas over the cliff into an absolutist and dogmatic straitjacket.
"I hasten to confess that in a crunch I may prove a faint-hearted originalist.
Whether appeal to intentions in this way is enough to render one an originalist if only a faint-hearted one is perhaps questionable, however.
And, if Congress fails to authorize action, paralyzing the President, U.S. national security will indeed suffer as our red-lines will become meaningless, leaving us to be perceived as a paper tiger or a faint-hearted "humanitarian", or both.
Calling himself a "faint-hearted originalist," Scalia asserts in his 1989 article Originalism: The Lesser Evil, "I cannot imagine myself, any more than any other federal judge, upholding a statute that imposes the punishment of flogging".
Not a job for the faint hearted, then.
