John F. Manning

To those who knew him best, Justice Antonin Scalia was "Nino," a man whose contrarian legal views belied his warm and friendly demeanor off the bench. Fellow justices gathered at the Mayflower Hotel on Tuesday to remember their friend. ... Scalia was remembered for his sense of humor by many, as a magnificent performer by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and a poor estimator of travel time by his daughter Catherine. "That was Justice Scalia's gift," said John Manning, a former clerk for Justice Scalia who is now a professor at Harvard Law School. Scalia took boring technical everyday law and he showed what was at stake for constitutional democracy, Manning said. Clerking for Justice Scalia changed Manning's life, he said.

Justice Clarence Thomas paid tribute on Tuesday to “Brother Nino” at a memorial service for Justice Antonin Scalia at the Mayflower Hotel attended by all eight remaining members of the Supreme Court...Prof. John F. Manning, a former law clerk who now teaches law at Harvard, said Justice Scalia welcomed debate and disagreement in his chambers, to a point. “When one of us got a little overinvested, he had to say, ‘Hey, remember, it’s my name that has to go on the opinion,’” Professor Manning said. “And especially with me, for some reason, this was often followed by the further observation, ‘And I am not a nut.’”

Justice Clarence Thomas choked up. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg got lost in her notes. Law clerks recalled stern admonitions with affection. Sons and daughters recounted family dinners, Sunday religious services and "the tickle monster." Justice Antonin Scalia was remembered Tuesday as a man whose brilliance and jurisprudence hid a softer side that included baseball, opera, red wine and pizza with anchovies, singing in his chambers and a sonorous laugh that reverberated through the courtroom...Two former law clerks regaled the audience with tales of how those opinions came together, often in raucous free-for-alls inside Scalia's chambers. "The whole thing was unforgettable," recalled Harvard Law School professor John Manning, who clerked for Scalia during the 1988 term. "His openness, his enthusiasm, his clarity, his playfulness, his common sense, his commitment to principle — all of this made even the blandest legal issue seem vivid and human and consequential."

Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan discussed what she described as “remarkable” changes in interpretation of statutory law in a conversation with law professor John F. Manning ’82 during an event at the Law School on Tuesday. Law School Dean Martha L. Minow introduced Kagan, one of her predecessors as dean. She noted that this lecture series is named after Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin G. Scalia, whom Minow described as Kagan’s “sparring partner, hunting partner, and friend.” The talk centered on what Minow called the “revolution” in statutory interpretation over the past several decades that has shifted the focus in the courts from common law to statutory law.

To honor the life work of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, L ’59, LL.D. ’11, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study (RIAS) convened a panel discussion of the Roberts Court on Radcliffe Day, traditionally held on the Friday after Commencement...The panel, she said, would discuss some of these calls, moderated by Margaret H. Marshall, Ed.M. ’69, former chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, and senior research fellow and lecturer on law at Harvard Law School. “I cannot think of a better umpire,” Cohen said of Marshall, who received the Radcliffe Medal in 2012 (she is also a director of Harvard Magazine Inc.). The panelists were Linda Greenhouse ’68, former Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times, now a journalist in residence and lecturer at Yale Law School; Michael Klarman, Kirkland & Ellis Professor at Harvard Law School, the author of the Harvard Magazine feature “How Same-Sex Marriage Came to Be”; Lauren Sudeall Lucas, J.D. ’05, an assistant professor at Georgia State University College of Law; and John Manning ’82, J.D. ’85, Bromley professor of law at HLS.

“We present the Radcliffe Medal to an individual who has been a powerful and impressive force for change, someone who takes risks and forges ahead. These are hallmarks of Radcliffe.” Lizabeth Cohen, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, made this statement in announcing that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, is this year’s Radcliffe Medal recipient...Moderated by Margaret H. Marshall, Ed.M. ’69, a former chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, a senior research fellow and lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, and the 2012 Radcliffe Medalist, “A Decade of Decisions and Dissents” will feature the following panelists: Linda Greenhouse ’68, Knight Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence and Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School, and former Supreme Court correspondent, The New York Times; Michael Klarman, Kirkland & Ellis Professor, Harvard Law School; Lauren Sudeall Lucas, J.D. ’05, assistant professor of law, Georgia State University College of Law; John Manning ’82, J.D. ’85, Bruce Bromley Professor of Law, Harvard Law School.

An influential US senator from Kentucky has threatened to derail President Obama’s nomination of a Harvard Law School professor to fill a rare vacancy on the federal Appeals Court in Boston, the court that helps establish the region’s legal climate. US Senator Rand Paul said in a letter to Senate leadership that he will block the confirmation of David Barron to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit until the White House releases controversial memos Barron drafted that justified the US military’s unchecked killing of American citizens overseas…Barron is married to former Boston Globe editorial columnist Juliette Kayyem, a Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts. His nomination was supported by lifelong Republican John F. Manning, a colleague at Harvard Law, and Charles Fried, also a Harvard professor and solicitor general to President Reagan.