During Sunday morning's MSNBC live coverage of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, host Ari Melber and correspondent Irin Carmon waded into going negative against the conservative justice as the two brought up those who viewed him as "cold" toward people who have been "historically oppressed" in spite of his pleasant personality.
At 9:54 a.m. ET, Melber raised this criticism:
You think about the contrast here, this man who is celebrated more widely than Washington ideology might suggest, embraced for his vigor, for his personality, and yet a man who, in his decisions, and in many of his dissents, was seen by many as cold to the plight of many people that you would want him to extend that same gregariousness to in his decisions.
Unlike Melber, who slightly distanced himself from such negative sentiments as he referred to the view as being "seen by many," Carmon made no attempt at all to feign impartiality as she asserted that the conservative justice "certainly left out in the cold ... many historically oppressed people." Carmon:
Right, you're seeing a lot of mixed reactions from liberals so far -- respect for the man, you know, condolences to his family, condolences to his friends, and yet he's somebody whose jurisprudence certainly left out in the cold, as you say, many historically oppressed people. And I think that, you know, when we're assessing his legacy also as a justice, we should think about that as well.
She went on to recall that he "was thwarted from building bridges with other justices" and that he was "unable to have the broader influence on the Court by getting other people to vote with him."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of MSNBC's live coverage from Sunday, February 14:
9:54 a.m. ET
ARI MELBER: You heard the conversation we've been having over the course of the hour. You think about the contrast here, this man who is celebrated more widely than Washington ideology might suggest, embraced for his vigor, for his personality, and yet a man who, in his decisions, and in many of his dissents, was seen by many as cold to the plight of many people that you would want him to extend that same gregariousness to in his decisions.
IRIN CARMON: Right, you're seeing a lot of mixed reactions from liberals so far -- respect for the man, you know, condolences to his family, condolences to his friends, and yet he's somebody whose jurisprudence certainly left out in the cold, as you say, many historically oppressed people. And I think that, you know, when we're assessing his legacy also as a justice, we should think about that as well.
He was an American original. I think it's just safe to say that there'll never be another person with those kinds of zingers and sharpness and his kind of strong judicial philosophy. He both left his stamp on the Court and shaped jurisprudence for conservatives, but also in many ways was thwarted from building bridges with other justices. I mean, Justice O'Connor, in particular, I think he alienated her by insulting her intelligence such that he was unable to have the broader influence on the Court by getting other people to vote with him. So I think we have to assess that part of the legacy as well.
