Justice Antonin Scalia is often wrongly viewed as being a knee-jerk conservative. If you survey his entire jurisprudence, you'll notice many cases in which he sided with the criminal defendant over law enforcement. His view of the Sixth Amendment, as articulated in the line of sentencing cases starting with Apprendi and moving forward, is generally pro-defendant.

And just the other day, in Begay v. United States (PDF), Justice Scalia once again sided with the criminal. Why? An observant ATL reader offers this speculation:

In Begay v. U.S., the Court decided drunk driving was not a "violent felony" under the Armed Career Criminal Act. Nino concurred, saying the following: "because I cannot say that drunk driving clearly poses [a serious risk of injury to another], the rule of lenity brings me to concur in the judgment of the Court."

Weird for two reasons. First, does Nino really think a DUI is not dangerous? And second, how often do we hear Nino invoke the rule of lenity?

But maybe not so weird after all. Recall Nino's daughter, Ann Banaszewski, getting busted for DUI, which was all the more shocking because she had her kids in the car. Hmm.

In other recent Nino news, a different reader reports:

Did you read Scalia's concurrence in Baze v. Rees? He pretty much gave Stevens a rhetorical beatdown; guess Nino won't be getting an invite to Stevens' birthday party this weekend....

Here's one part we especially liked (citations omitted):

The experience of the state legislatures and the Congress—who retain the death penalty as a form of punishment—is dismissed as “the product of habit and inattention rather than an acceptable deliberative process.” The experience of social scientists whose studies indicate that the death penalty deters crime is relegated to a footnote. The experience of fellow citizens who support the death penalty is described, with only the most thinly veiled condemnation, as stemming from a “thirst for vengeance.” It is Justice Stevens’ experience that reigns over all.

Or maybe Justice Kennedy's. Ain't judicial review grand?

(That's just one excerpt; the opinion as a whole is quite the benchslap. Check it out in full over here.)

Court: Drunk driving not a violent felony [SCOTUSblog]
Begay v. United States [SCOTUSblog (PDF)]

Time for some celebrity DWI news. It's like your morning coffee: you can't get your day started without it.

First, troubled underage starlet Lindsay Lohan (near right) -- who is back in rehab, after a drunk driving arrest over the Memorial Day weekend -- allegedly suffers from OxyContin addiction, according to her estranged dad, Michael Lohan.

On the one hand, Lohan's felonious father may not be the most reliable source. But on the other hand, we're talking about Lindsay Lohan.

Second, an update on someone whose misadventures we have followed quite closely in these pages: Ann Banaszewski (far right), daughter of Justice Antonin Scalia (far right). From the Chicago Tribune:

A daughter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia pleaded guilty Wednesday to drunken driving in Wheaton in February....

Banaszewski accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors and was sentenced by DuPage County Judge Daniel Guerin to 18 months of court supervision. She also was ordered to perform 140 hours of public service (of which 40 hours must be beneficial to children), attend counseling and treatment sessions, attend a victim-impact panel and pay $1,500 in fines and fees.

Will his daughter's brush with the law turn the crustily conservative Nino into a bleeding heart for criminal defendants? Stay tuned.

(Yes, we know -- Justice Scalia has handed down numerous rulings favorable to criminal defendants. E.g., Blakely v. Washington; Crawford v. Washington. But he's far from the most pro-defendant member of the Court.)

Lohan's Dad: Lindsay Hooked on OxyContin [Associated Press]
Justice's daughter pleads guilty to DUI [Chicago Tribune]
Scalia's daughter pleads guilty to drunken driving [Journal-Gazette / Times-Courier]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Ann Banaszewski (scroll down)

Her high-profile father continues to criss-cross the country, preaching the gospel of originalism.

But Ann S. Banaszewski, daughter of Justice Antonin Scalia, probably won't be doing much traveling in the next six months. Unless someone else is at the wheel.

(Justice Scalia, as far as we know, hasn't gotten any traffic tickets lately. But rumor has it that he can be an impatient driver himself.)

Scalia Daughter Won't Fight Driver's License Suspension [Chicago Tribune]
Judicial SIGHT-ation: The Wheels of Justice Scalia [UTR]

Does the copy editor of the DuPage Daily Herald, like Professor Jeffrey Rosen, think that Justice Antonin Scalia "is a huge dick"?

If so, it would make sense. Animus towards Justice Scalia might explain this amusingly salacious headline:

This innocent little headline, just seven words long, makes it sound like Justice Scalia has a mistress. Who's a lush. And a criminal.

It's an impressive feat, in its own way.

Woman tied to Scalia faces DUI charge [DuPage County Daily Herald]

Earlier: Justice Scalia's Daughter Joins the Ranks of Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and State Court Judges

If your mom or dad is a federal judge, that makes them perfect (by definition). But Article III infallibility does not extend to you, their offspring. Do YOU have a commission signed by the President? Where's your fancy black robe?

In fact, federal judicial kids get into all sorts of embarrassing scrapes. For example, sometimes they spill coffee on airplanes.*

And sometimes they get into much bigger trouble. From the Chicago Tribune:

A daughter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was arrested Monday night in Wheaton and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and child endangerment, Wheaton Deputy Police Chief Thomas Meloni said.

Ann S. Banaszewski, 45, was stopped about 7:25 p.m. in a 1996 Ford Econoline van near Gamon Road and Longfellow Drive after a citizen reported a possible drunken driver was at the McDonald's restaurant near there, Meloni said.

Three of Banaszewski's "small children" were in the van with her at the time, leading to the child endangerment charge, Meloni said.

Quips our tipster: "Now that I have kids, it really makes me mad to see someone drinking and driving with their kids in the car."

(Similarly troubling: Banaszewski's taste in vehicles. A 1996 Ford Econoline van? Not nearly as nice as the BMW her father tools around Washington in.)

Mrs. Banaszweski wasn't eager to chat about the incident:

Banaszewski, reached by phone at home, declined to speak about the arrest, or whether she was Scalia's daughter.

"I have no information and I certainly would not speak with a reporter about my father," she said.

Some unsolicited advice: Next time, Ann, just say "no comment." We don't mean to be annoying or pedantic -- we're guessing you don't speak to the media much -- but saying you "have no information" about an episode in which you're the protagonist isn't true.

Anyway, we must say we're rather surprised by this news. The offspring of Justice Scalia are an upstanding bunch. They include a priest, a military officer, and a hot ERISA lawyer. And given Justice Scalia's emphasis on morality and personal responsibility, we think he'd be displeased to learn that his daughter was allegedly driving under the influence, with his three grandchildren in the car.

* For those of you who care, yes, we will (eventually) respond to Judge Alex Kozinski's open letter to us. We've just been very, very busy.

Daughter of Supreme Court Justice Charged in DUI [Chicago Tribune]

Earlier: Flying the Friendly, Federal Judicial Skies
Judges of the Day: Patrick Young and Jan Fiss
The Honorable Nicole Richie?