The Final Word on "Scalito"

In a couple of earlier posts, I asked why journalists who write about Third Circuit judge Samuel Alito always claim that his nickname is "Scalito," even though there seems to be no one who ever actually used that term in print. Indeed, the first ever printed use of "Scalito" appeared in a National Law Journal article that merely said that "some" call Alito "Scalito." I just noticed that there was a comment on this post that revealed who coined the term:

Shannon P. Duffy said:


I'm the one who nick-named Alito "Scalito." The National Law Journal article you refer to was written by Joseph Slobodzian. At the time, he and I were both reporters covering the federal courthouse in Philadelphia -- he for the Philadelphia Inquirer and I for the Legal Intelligencer. He did some freelancing for NLJ and we had several discussions at the time he wrote that article. I knew as soon as it was published that my nickname would stick, but I never would have guessed just how popular it would become.