Justice Scalia Is No Sir Thomas More

The St. Thomas More Society of Maryland awarded Supreme Court Justice with its "Man for All Seasons Award", which is "given to members of the legal profession who embody the ideals of St. Thomas More." I can think of few members of the legal profession whose legal philosophy is more opposed to the principles for which More stood.

St. Thomas More resigned when it became clear that his position as Chancellor under King Henry would require him to affirm the jurisdictional authority of the state without the limitation of the Church's own authority. Justice Scalia, on the other hand, said in an interview with the Catholic Reporter, "I don’t think there’s any such thing as a Catholic judge.... If I genuinely thought the Constitution guaranteed a woman’s right to abortion, I would be on the other way. It would do nothing with my religion. It has to do with my being a lawyer."

When faced with his own career aspirations, St. Thomas More refused to relegate his faith to the private sphere of his life, rejecting the idea that he could be anything but a Catholic chancellor. Justice Scalia, on the other hand, separates his faith from his role as a judge to the point that he would be willing to perpetuate what his faith regards as a manifest injustice (a moral issue that makes King Henry's divorce look small by comparison). Whether or not Justice Scalia's view is correct, he certainly is no Thomas More.