Smith v. Barry/Concurrence Scalia

Justice SCALIA, concurring in the judgment.

I agree with the judgment because Fed.Rule App.Proc. 3(c) provides that "[a]n appeal shall not be dismissed for informality of form or title of the notice of appeal." I do not rely on the theory that petitioner's brief was the "functional equivalent" of a notice of appeal under a "liberal construction" of Rule 3. Ante, at 248. "[W]e should seek to interpret the rules neither liberally nor stingily, but only, as best we can, according to their apparent intent." Torres v. Oakland Scavenger Co., 487 U.S. 312, 319, 108 S.Ct. 2405, 2410, 101 L.Ed.2d 285 (1988) (SCALIA, J., concurring in the judgment).