"The Constitution is not a living organism," Scalia insisted.

Taking a position at odds with current opinion that holds that the Constitution changes in order to meet the needs of a changing society and thus acts as a "living document" that allows for flexible interpretations, Scalia says he takes what he called the "Originalist" point of view.

"Originalism was the dominant philosophy until 50 years ago," said Scalia. He repeatedly challenged the "living constitution" doctrine held by most law students and professors.

"Most people think the battle is conservative versus liberals when it's actually originalists versus living constitutionalists," Scalia said.

Scalia said he reads the text of the Constitution in a literal manner, a method in which the "plain and ordinary meaning" of the text guides interpretation. "Words mean what they mean."

"My system is flexible," he added, and went on to cite examples of his flexibility. "If you want the death penalty, pass a law ... if you want abortion, pass a law ... if you want something, persuade other citizens and pass a law," he said, by implication taking issue with activist judges who use the bench to create new laws.

Scalia said he does not foresee an immediate change from the active judiciary created by the living constitution approach, because, "It's a lot more fun to talk policy than to talk texts, and it puts more power in the hands of judges."

The living document controversy is not the only issue dividing Scalia from his colleagues - he has disagreed with his fellow justices in the matter of the court basing decisions on foreign law.

As Newsmax reported, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that as a justice she considers foreign laws – not just U.S. laws and its Constitution - in forming her legal opinions.

Ginsburg said criticisms of relying too heavily on world opinion "should not lead us to abandon the effort to learn what we can from the experience and good thinking foreign sources may convey."

She also came down on the side of the living constitution position, telling members of the 99 year-old American Society of International Law in Washington, D.C. that "The notion that it is improper to look beyond the borders of the United States in grappling with hard questions has a certain kinship to the view that the U.S. Constitution is a document essentially frozen in time as of the date of its ratification."

In 2003, Republican Justice Sandra Day O'Connor openly stated that the court should look abroad for judicial guidance, saying "The impressions we create in this world are important, and they can leave their mark."

O'Connor indicated she and the High Court had been influenced in recent rulings, citing foreign laws as having helped the Court rule that executing mentally retarded individuals as illegal. She also said the Court relied on European Court decisions when it struck down Texas's law outlawing sodomy or sex between adults of the same gender.

This drew a sharp rebuke from Scalia who wrote: "The court's discussion of these foreign views (ignoring, of course, the many countries that have retained criminal prohibitions on sodomy) is ... meaningless dicta. Dangerous dicta, however, since this court ... should not impose foreign moods, fads, or fashions on Americans." he said.

Editor's note: