Although he's usually predictably oppressive, sometimes Scalia can be surprising. In a dissenting opinion in 1995 he wrote: "As we said in [Texas v.] Johnson [(1989)], 'if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.' Prohibition of expression of contempt for the flag, whether by contemptuous words, or by burning the flag, came, we said, within that 'bedrock principle.'" (citations omitted).

Go figure.

michael