The College Fix

‘You can’t have a good country without good people’

America grieves the loss of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. His brilliance, honesty, humor and courage will not only be greatly missed, but he leaves a void that threatens the very heart and soul of the United States of America.

Scalia was one of the few judges left on the high court’s dais who truly understood what the Founding Fathers sough to accomplish, and fought tooth and nail to preserve that vision within the letter of the law.

Scalia, we salute you. Thank you for your integrity, conservative principles, and many years of service.

Scalia’s wit and wisdom often graced the pages of The College Fix as we touted his careful and clever observations. Below, we offer a sampling in remembrance.

Justice Scalia Says America is ‘in a Downward Spiral’
How do you improve a nation? Do you start by amending its laws? Not so, according to our nation’s most famous conservative jurist. A nation’s character is a reflection of its citizens’ character, more so than its laws. “To the extent that the country is in a downward spiral,” Scalia said, “it’s not because of the law, it’s because of the people. You can’t have a good country without good people. I fear we have lost some of the virtues that characterized Americans in the past.” (Jan. 2014)

Justice Scalia To Disgruntled College Student: ‘Revolt’
Asked by a student about the constitutionality of the income tax, Scalia replied that the government has the right to take his money. “But if reaches certain point, perhaps you should revolt,” he added. “You’re entitled to criticize the government, and you can use words, you can use symbols, you can use telegraph, you can use Morse code, you can burn a flag.” (April 2014)

Scalia on the Devil:
“You know, it is curious. In the Gospels, the Devil is doing all sorts of things. He’s making pigs run off cliffs, he’s possessing people and whatnot. And that doesn’t happen very much anymore… What he’s doing now is getting people not to believe in him or in God. He’s much more successful that way.” (October 2013)

Scalia on homosexuality:
“I still think it’s Catholic teaching that it’s wrong. Okay? But I don’t hate the people that engage in it. In my legal opinions, all I’ve said is that I don’t think the Constitution requires the people to adopt one view or the other.” (October 2013)

Justice Scalia says low-performing minority students would do better at non-elite schools
Scalia may be one of the few people in elite America willing to say that absolving white guilt shouldn’t be a higher priority than directing students to those institutions where they have the best chance of succeeding. Not because they are inherently inferior – but because, like trying to learn Spanish at 30, students will face an unavoidable disadvantage in college admissions if they haven’t been well prepared for it many years prior, by the school system, neighborhood, parents and other role models. (Dec. 2015)

RELATED: Justice Scalia is ruining my students because he’s too entertaining, law school dean says

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