Editing Antonin Scalia (section)

==U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (1982–1986)==
When [[Ronald Reagan]] was elected president in November 1980, Scalia hoped for a major position in the new administration. He was interviewed for the position of [[Solicitor General of the United States|solicitor general of the United States]], but the position went to [[Rex E. Lee]], to Scalia's great disappointment.{{sfn|Biskupic|2009|pp=73–74}} Scalia was offered a judgeship on the Chicago-based [[United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit]] in early 1982 but declined it, hoping to be appointed to the more influential [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit]]. Later that year, Reagan offered Scalia a seat on the D.C. Circuit, which he accepted.{{sfn|Biskupic|2009|p=80}} He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 5, 1982, and was sworn in on August 17, 1982.

On the D.C. Circuit, Scalia built a conservative record while winning applause in legal circles for powerful, witty legal writing which was often critical of the Supreme Court precedents he felt bound as a lower-court judge to follow. Scalia's opinions drew the attention of Reagan administration officials, who, according to ''[[The New York Times]]'', "liked virtually everything they saw and&nbsp;... listed him as a leading Supreme Court prospect".<ref>{{Citation |last=Taylor |first=Stuart |title=Scalia's views, stylishly expressed, line up with Reagan's |date=June 19, 1986 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/19/us/scalia-s-views-stylishly-expressed-line-up-with-reagan-s.html |access-date=January 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512151022/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/19/us/scalia-s-views-stylishly-expressed-line-up-with-reagan-s.html |archive-date=May 12, 2011 |url-status=live |author-link=Stuart Taylor, Jr.}}</ref>