Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia devoted his quarter-century on the bench to "spreading the gospel about American constitutionalism," author Joseph Tartakovsky told Newsmax TV on Friday.
"For 25 years, he was the most important voice in the country, warning Americans about the way the Supreme Court was deciding cases that had been the province of democratic majorities," Tartakovsky, former Nevada deputy solicitor general, told "Newsmax Now" host John Bachman.
"Just sort of chipping away at the realm of democratic decision."
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Tartakovsky includes Scalia, who died in 2016 at age 79, in his new book: "The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds that Shaped America’s Supreme Law."
"One of the things that made Scalia so great was not that he wrote fabulous, intelligent decisions, but that he became a public intellectual," Tartakovsky said.
"He was out there giving talks — talking to students, talking on British radio, talking in Peru and Canada.
"Spreading the gospel about American constitutionalism and trying to teach Americans, and not just the people who parse his decisions, about how we preserve our Constitution."
Tartakovsky described Justice Neil Gorsuch, a President Donald Trump appointee, as "a great successor" to Scalia.
"They have shared principles," he told Bachman. "They're both good stylists.
"Whether there will be someone quite like Antonin Scalia, we'll have to see."
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