Justice Scalia: Top 5 Quotes from July

Instead of passing his summer lounging in an exotic location while "teaching" law school summer courses, Justice Antonin Scalia has been busy this summer promoting his new book, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Text.

Thanks to the hoopla of the Supreme Court's 2011 Term -- and the fact that the Nine tend to shy away from interviews -- everyone wants to talk to Justice Scalia about his new book. Those conversations have produced their fair share of interesting sound bites. Here are our favorites from the month:

1. A sharp dressed man. Justice Scalia opposes cameras in the Court because Americans are generally not that interested in Supreme Court proceedings and he doesn't think televised proceedings would actually educate the public. "Your outfit would carry it all, to be sure, but what most of the American people would see would be 30 second, 15 second take-outs from our argument, and those take-outs would not be characteristic of what we do, they would be uncharacteristic," reports The Hill.
2. Oh, make me over. In a C-SPAN interview that will air on Sunday, Justice Scalia suggests that everyone should chill about corporate political expenditures because Americans are smarter than to be controlled by what they see on TV. Furthermore, campaigns don't spend that much money. "I forget what the figures are, but I think we spend less on our presidential campaigns ... than the country spends on cosmetics," ABC reports.
3. Que sera sera. Scalia isn't bothered by the backlash over his Arizona v. U.S. dissent. He told NPR's Nina Totenberg, "That's why I'm life-tenured. I'm not supposed to be swayed by what would make people like me. That's not the job."
4. We the people. As much as the justice system likes to focus on a jury of one's peers, Scalia reminded Totenberg that the Sixth Amendment "talks about a jury, right to trial by jury. Doesn't talk about peers."
5. That's what friends are for ... Justice Scalia says that you shouldn't believe the rumors that the conservative block on the Court is feeling huffy toward Chief Justice John Roberts after the health care opinion, NPR reports. "That's just not the way justices of the Supreme Court behave, going into pouts. I mean that -- it's absurd ... My best friend on the court is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and God knows she doesn't vote my way much of the time."

We all know that Justice Scalia is one of the more quotable justices on the Court, so his C-SPAN interview is sure to be full of flair. The interview will air on July 29 at 8 p.m. EST.

Related Resources:

• SCOTUS Releases October Hearing Schedule for 2012 Term (FindLaw's Supreme Court Blog)
• Justice Scalia to Appear on Piers Morgan Tonight (FindLaw's Supreme Court Blog)
• In Cleveland, You Could be a Federal Judge? (FindLaw's Supreme Court Blog)