Bloomberg Law has Mentions of Justice Scalia Surge at Conservative-Dominated Court
References to the late Justice Antonin Scalia spiked during Supreme Court oral arguments this year, highlighting his lasting influence on how the court interprets the law. Justices and advocates have invoked Scalia’s name nearly three dozen times just since the current term began in October. That’s already on par with the number of references he’s received in most calendar years since he died in 2016, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis.
- Bloomberg Law reviewed more than 500 oral argument transcripts from February 2016 through December 2025 and identified more than 300 references to Scalia by name—averaging over 30 a year since 2018—across roughly 140 cases.
- No other former justice comes up as often.
- O’Connor, who retired in 2006 and died in 2023, was referenced roughly 50 times over the past decade, and Kennedy approximately 60 times since his retirement in 2018.
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