Whenever legitimate authority has once given a clear command, let no one transgress that command, because it does not happen to commend itself to him; but let each one subject his own opinion to the authority of him who is his superior, and obey him as a matter of conscience. Again, let no private individual, whether in books or in the press, or in public speeches, take upon himself the position of an authoritative teacher in the Church. All know to whom the teaching authority of the Church has been given by God: he, then, possesses a perfect right to speak as he wishes and when he thinks it opportune. The duty of others is to hearken to him reverently when he speaks and to carry out what he says. [Pope Benedict XV: Encyclical Letter Ad Beatissimi (c. 1914)]
Scalia is a knucklehead when it comes to the DP issue. As Dulles noted, the Magisterium has not changed doctrine.
"The Catholic magisterium does not, and never has, advocated unqualified abolition of the death penalty. I know of no official statement from popes or bishops, whether in the past or in the present, that denies the right of the State to execute offenders at least in certain extreme cases."
Scalia is at war against an error he is responsible for. Her is at war against a non-existent "teaching." Maybe next time, he will actually read the Encyclical he publicly opposed and he won't make such an ass of himself.
For an "originalist," Scalia didn't attend to the origins of his complaint as expressed in the Catechism and Evangelium Vitae.
Uh...how does he manage to quote from it without reading it? ;)