Scalia's Sarcasm Bad Influence, Says Prof

Students have been turning in briefs “laced with derision and ad hominem barbs,” according to UC-Irvine School of Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, and the man responsible for starting the trend is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. He is “setting a terrible example for young lawyers,” Chemerinsky says. “My students read his work, find it amusing and imitate his truculent style.” The Supreme Court term that recently ended has seen, “especially nasty, sarcastic and personal” writings from Scalia. “Such mockery does not amount to a legal argument,” Chemerinsky writes.