Scalia Says His Catholic Faith Has Little Impact On His Legal Views

Speaking at Villanova University Law School yesterday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that his Catholic faith has played little role in his court decisions. The AP reported on his remarks, during which he asserted: "I am really hard put to tell you of a single decision or opinion of mine that would have come out differently if I were not a Catholic." He said that his opposition to Roe v. Wade stems not from his religious beliefs, but from his "textualist" views-- there is no reference to abortion in the Constitution. Commenting on death penalty cases, Scalia said that the Church's opposition to capital punishment is fairly recent, and is not an infallible teaching. He said that if he thought that it was, he might feel compelled to resign because of the number of capital cases the Court must decide.