Sardonic comment on using authority

Justice Scalia’s concurrence in a recent case illustrates the importance of supporting legal arguments with  authority. NASA  v. Nelson, 131 S. Ct. 746 (2011) (Scalia & Thomas, JJ., concurring in the judgment). Although the plaintiffs asserted a constitutional right to privacy, Scalia pointed out that their brief contained “not a single citation to the sole document we are called upon to construe: the Constitution of the United States.” He then sardonically called the lack of a citation “refreshingly honest”—because in his view no such constitutional right exists.

(jdf)