While considerable attention has turned to the political conflagration that has emerged since the sudden death of US Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia on February 13, he left to mourn a sizeable family comprising 36 grand-children borne by nine children and their spouses including Trinidadian Adele Fortun�, now Scalia.
Adele first met the eighth-born of the Scalia children, Christopher, back in September 2004 while they both studied at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. The former St Joseph's Convent, St Joseph, student had entered the university to pursue a law degree, while Christopher's studies led him to a career as an accomplished writer and public relations executive.
His work has appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard and he also works as a senior executive in a US public relations firm."I was not aware of who his father was at the time," Adele said in an online interview with T&T Guardian. In fact, she confessed to not having known his surname months into a friendship that eventually led to romance, marriage and two children.
She remembers one day learning what his last name was and telling him it was too hard to pronounce, "so I would call him something else." She does not say what was the chosen alternative at that time, but circumstances ensured she would have to get used to the US-Italian rendition which places the accent on the penultimate syllable–"skah-LEE-uh".
"It was not until early 2005 that I came across a judge sharing his name in my (law) studies that I put two and two together," Adele said.Five years later, she became Mrs Scalia.Well, what has it been like being part of a family led by the famous American jurist? No big thing, Adele suggests.
"This might seem a let-down, but it is like being part of any other family, really," she said. "The Scalias are just a big, loving, Irish-Italian family, like thousands of others across America. When you meet them, the most notable thing about them is not that they are famous or prominent...but that they are all so, so very funny and quick-witted."
Husband, Christopher, testifies in an article for The Washington Post to his father's quick wit and great sense of humour. Adele agrees. "Even after spending years with them, try as you might, you will never be as funny as a Scalia," she told T&T Guardian. "It is an impressive family trait."
Christopher and Adele's two boys called the famous judge "grand-pop" and the T&T born attorney speaks of a loving, attentive grand-father. "Grand-pop loved them and they loved him," she said. "He read to them, hugged them goodnight and was always happy to have them over for a visit, and the boys were always sad to leave."
Though the couple journeyed to T&T several times, Adele's famous father-in-law never made the trip. She, however, remembers how impressed he was with the steelband that played at her Washington DC wedding which, she revealed, Justice Scalia said he wished had been hosted in Trinidad.
Adele believes her late father-in-law's contribution to American jurisprudence was in helping to "change the way people think and talk about the (US) Constitution."
In fact, despite his controversially conservative position on a wide range of issues including abortion, race, gender and sexual orientation rights and the death penalty, Scalia contributed substantially to reinforcing the notion of the separation of powers between the US legislature, executive, and judiciary.
In one 1988 dissenting opinion at the end of a case which ruled on the issue of executive encroachment, Scalia is famously quoted as saying: "Frequently an issue of this sort will come before the Court clad, so to speak, in sheep's clothing...But this wolf comes as a wolf."
The reviews that followed his sudden death all suggest that, with Justice Scalia, the country essentially got what they saw. And while President Barack Obama is controversially engaged in finding a Supreme Court replacement and has been criticised for being absent from his February 20 funeral, the Scalia clan confronts the reality of a grand-pop for whom there can be no substitute.
Antonin Scalia facts
�2 First Italian-American justice to serve on the US Supreme Court.
�2 He was considered a conservative.
�2 Oversaw the Fifth Circuit.
�2 Voted consistently in favor of free speech.
�2 Nicknamed 'Nino.'
�2 Strong opponent of abortion and affirmative action and was a strong advocate of federalism and separation of powers.
�2 With the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, he became the longest-serving justice on the court.
