Antonin Scalia Does Not Believe in Molecular Biology
While he “joins the judgment of the court,” Scalia wrote, he won’t sign on to “Part I-A and some portions of the rest of the opinion going into fine details of molecular biology.” Why? Because he can’t “affirm those details on [his] own knowledge or even [his] own belief.”
So what is Part I-A? Sounds like some pretty out-there stuff. It begins: “Genes form the basis for hereditary traits in living organisms.” It holds that genes are “encoded as DNA, which takes the shape of the familiar ‘double helix,’” and describes the chemical structures of DNA. It tells, in basic terms, what DNA is and how it works, ending with: “the study of genetics can lead to valuable medical breakthroughs.” It literally makes no other claims—it is a dry recitation of genetic science. High-school-level stuff.
Scalia can’t fully join his fellow justices because he doesn’t believe in genes.