Acknowledgments

I want to express my great appreciation to Sedgwick, LLP, where I am Of Counsel. The law firm and its predecessor have supported my writing career, including my prior biography of Judge Henry Friendly, by giving me an office and clerical services without accepting anything in return, except, possibly, the satisfaction of helping a lawyer, now largely removed from private practice, engage in a new career as an author of books on judges and the courts. I also want to thank George Washington Law School, where I taught as an adjunct professor more than a decade ago, for allowing me to employ its library and facilities, including its highly professional staff.

A number of people have given generously of their time and knowledge to read and comment on drafts of this book. Three members of the judiciary, present or former judges on U.S. courts of appeals, provided invaluable assistance: Judges Patricia Wald (D.C. Circuit, retired), J. Harvie Wilkinson (Fourth Circuit), and Stephen F. Williams (D.C. Circuit), who also provided assistance on my first book. I want equally to thank four distinguished professors of law: Norman Dorsen (NYU Law School), my brother, whose help and encouragement require special notice; John F. Manning (Harvard Law School and a former law clerk to Justice Scalia); and Stephen B. Presser (Northwestern Law School) – all of whom, like the judges, commented on the entire manuscript – and James J. Grudney (Fordham Law School), who reviewed my chapters on legislation. Their comments have been invaluable to me.

I relied extensively on scholarship in books and professional periodicals, and I have done my best to acknowledge my predecessors in thought. I want to thank the many scholars, primarily historians and law professors with training and advanced degrees in history or related relevant fields, who graciously answered my e-mails and provided encouragement. While I have relied on their learned and often groundbreaking books and articles in my analysis of Justice Scalia's jurisprudence, which are duly noted in the endnotes and sometimes in the text, I especially appreciated their willingness to interrupt their work to respond to my questions.

I want to express my appreciation to Cambridge University Press, especially Lew Bateman and John Berger, for publishing this book and for the assistance they provided.

Thanks are also due to Mike Aronson, who was my editor at Harvard University Press on my previous book and on this book before his untimely retirement, which did not diminish his interest and encouragement.

I also was helped by part-time law student researchers from George Washington Law School, who located hard-to-find citations and sources and did other essential work: Nicholas Sachanda (GWU ’13), Joshua Champagne (GWU ’14), and Douglas Strauss (GWU ’16).

I want to thank the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who graciously responded to my many inquiries about his judicial opinions and views both orally and by e-mail, but who had no say in what is written on these pages and who never read the manuscript. He encouraged me to write a rigorous book. I have endeavored to represent his views accurately and fairly. I also want to thank Maureen Scalia, also a close friend, for making our many dinners together calmer as well as enjoyable.

It goes almost without saying that I take full responsibility for everything in the book.