WASHINGTON — The desire to sell books, it seems, can make even the Supreme Court’s fiercest critic of the media smile for the camera.
Justice Antonin Scalia, who once banned broadcast media from covering his acceptance of an award for supporting free speech, will be profiled on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in late April, just before publication of his new book on legal writing and advocacy.
Scalia already has been interviewed at the court by “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl and has allowed CBS cameras to record some speeches, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.
Yes this is the same justice who wouldn’t allow TV or radio coverage when he received the City Club’s Citadel of Free Speech Award in Cleveland in 2003.
A year later, Scalia apologized to two reporters after his security detail forced them to erase tape recordings of a speech he gave in Hattiesburg, Miss. Scalia said it was all a misunderstanding. The ban was meant to apply only to broadcast media, not reporters who were using audio recordings to help them write stories, he said.
But in the course of his written apology for what the U.S. Marshals Service called the “Hattiesburg Incident,” Scalia discussed his policy of barring cameras from speeches and declining personal interviews.
“It has been the tradition of the American judiciary not to thrust themselves into the public eye, where they might come to be regarded as politicians seeking public favor,” he said.
On the other hand, Scalia has seen his court colleagues use TV appearances to hawk their own books. Former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor appeared on “Dateline NBC” to promote her memoir about growing up on an Arizona ranch.
Justice Clarence Thomas sat for lengthy interviews on “60 Minutes” and ABC’s “Nightline” in connection with publication of his autobiography, “My Grandfather’s Son.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
