Scalia Wonders if Court's Lack of Regional, Educational and Religious Diversity Allows It to Express Nation's Principles

Via the Associated Press:

The presence of three women on the U.S. Supreme Court isn’t enough to convince Justice Antonin Scalia that the court has become a diverse body.

In remarks Wednesday night in Philadelphia, Scalia noted that four of the high court’s members are from New York City, one is from New Jersey and two are from California.

They are all either Catholic or Jewish. And all nine studied law at Harvard or Yale universities.

Scalia questioned whether the court, therefore, expresses “the deeply felt principles of the country.”

There does seem to be some kind of point waiting to be made about all of this, it just seems a bit odd that Scalia is making it. As perhaps the strictest interpreter of the Constitution on this court, he should be the last one worrying about whether the justices are able to be more representative of Americans and “express” the country’s principles. That, of course, is the idealized version of what Congress is supposed to do, although it’s unclear if anyone in the House or Senate is aware of that these days.

As for the Harvard and Yale portion of this demographic breakdown, I worry more about that being a pipeline to the Oval Office than the Supreme Court.