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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy comment re: Scalia's dissent, posted to a NY Times editorial
This is the text of a comment I posted to a very fine New York Times editorial on the gay marriage decision titled, "A Profound Ruling Delivers Justice on Gay Marriage":
In his rather unhinged dissent, Justice Scalia whines:
"A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy.
. . . .
This practice of constitutional revision by an unelected committee of nine, always accompanied (as it is today) by extravagant praise of liberty, robs the People of the most important liberty they asserted in the Declaration of Independence and won in the Revolution of 1776: the freedom to govern themselves."
Touching, isn't it, this great concern for the people's right to self governance? So, I have to wonder: where was that concern in Bush v. Gore, when Scalia and his buddies thought it was perfectly okay to stop an election recount that was ongoing and to simply appoint the President they happened to prefer? Where was it in Citizens United and the other campaign finance decisions that opened our elections, and indeed our government itself, to unbridled influence by corporate interests?
In any event, to the extent that self-government by "the people" isn't an entirely laughable notion anyway at this stage in our history, there has also been a long-standing principle, recognized by the Court, that fundamental rights are not subject to majority vote. The Court has long recognized marriage as such a fundamental right. If, in fact, fundamental rights were to be subject to the whims of majority vote, NOBODY's rights would ever be safe.
randys1
(16,286 posts)he was accused of the same thing back in 08
lsewpershad
(2,620 posts)and scumbag.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)kentuck
(111,111 posts)...why doesn't he step down? That is why we have a Supreme Court, to make the tough decisions. If that is too tough for him, perhaps he should step out of the kitchen?
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)cstanleytech
(26,368 posts)It makes me question how in the hell any of them managed to get through law school let alone pass the bar to practice law.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)Adrahil
(13,340 posts)He believes that decisions he likes are "defending liberty" and decisions he doesn't like are "judicial tyranny."
I hope the guy dies of a hate-induced aneurysm!
unblock
(52,515 posts)scalia is nearly perfect example of a justice who decides a case on partisan grounds then searches for a convenient argument to disguise his decision-making method. if a state wants to keep people from doing something right-wing, then he's all about freedom for the people. but if a state wants to keep people from doing something left-wing, he's all about freedom for the state.
over the years he's gotten more and more curmudgeonly. his comments, particularly in dissent, have gotten more and more outrageous and immature.
and he served up some juicy ones this time.
markpkessinger
(8,409 posts)His much-vaunted 'textualism' and 'originalism' gets thrown to the curb as soon as either pretense ceases to serve his forgone conclusion.
LuvNewcastle
(16,869 posts)I've noticed that tendency as well. Politics are central to nearly every decision he makes. That wouldn't be such a big deal, but he's the one who claims to be the strict-constructionist.
Qutzupalotl
(14,348 posts)you can almost always guess who the three are. Funny how that works.
It's almost as if Scalia has a preconceived outcome and argued backwards to support it, as if he had a thumb on the scales of justice.
The entire clutch of right wingers on the court act that way.
Spazito
(50,649 posts)Well done, you nailed it.
markpkessinger
(8,409 posts)Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)Scalia is appearing more unhinged than usual. LOL
K&R
markpkessinger
(8,409 posts)TBF
(32,160 posts)you show considerable restraint. And it's an excellent comment on substance as well.
calimary
(81,612 posts)at least.
Some little ill-placed and rather inappropriate and even nonsensical cuties, for sure:
"The Court's next bit of interpretive jiggery-pokery..."
And "Pure applesauce,"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/25/scalia-dissent_n_7662702.html
Seriously? This is a grown man, supposedly one of the most highly-educated and esteemed legal minds ...
I think the rather infantile snark in his remarks (rather crude, tasteless, and yes, childish, for a 79-year-old Supreme Court Associate Justice and the decorum that attends such a position) suggest a serious questioning of this man's sanity. Are we witnessing his mental and intellectual decline? Deterioration? Are we watching a senior government official slowly but steadily coming unspooled?
I think maybe it's time to start questioning his mental acuity and indeed, his sanity. It's certainly worth asking questions about. This individual appears to be increasingly and manifestly mentally unstable. Perhaps it's time to question his ability to continue performing his job.
Hey scalia - maybe it's time to consider heading out to pasture? Surely this is just not as much fun anymore, if nothing else, 'eh? I can't imagine it's still fun for you, especially as you see some of your "ideals" being judicially unraveled.
Just sayin'... (she said, attempting to plant a new meme...)
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)....his resignation to be on Obama's desk on Monday morning?
dhill926
(16,392 posts)hope lots of folks read it....
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)I wish you'd write more OPs or have a blog or something, or maybe I just often miss it when you do write.
Second, Scalia is not just a jerk, he's an ignorant jerk. He always yammers on about the intent of the Founders, well "A system of government that makes the People subordinate" to a judiciary that interprets the law was precisely their intent. They could not have been more clear.
Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)He has a Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/markpkessinger
onecaliberal
(33,016 posts)Liberal_Dog
(11,075 posts)K & R.
Raster
(20,998 posts)...who will NEVER, EVER be able to fill the shoes of Justice Thurgood Marshall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall
Tardigrade
(14 posts)As vile as Scalia is, Clarence Thomas wins the worst judge prize.
He sells rulings for cold cash!
druidity33
(6,452 posts)Raster
(20,998 posts)SunSeeker
(51,824 posts)AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(49,089 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)47of74
(18,470 posts)...the court rules against them.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Scalia couldn't carry Holmes' second chair's briefcase.
rock
(13,218 posts)Thank you!
bucolic_frolic
(43,567 posts)These conservatives want to control everything and don't like it when it doesn't go their way.
Cruz wants elected Justices, Jindal wants to replace them.
Recall the historical furor over FDR's plan to augment the court to suit his programs
The Court is America's ballast, slow moving for stability and deliberation.
There are some terrible justices on the Court, some appear to not be doing their job
from a legal standpoint, just pontificating
Retirement age, term limits, limits on how many justices a President can appoint, at least
one for every 4 year President, that would offer more balance, but elections? Never
Hestia
(3,818 posts)Thespian2
(2,741 posts)Absolutely Great!
AnnetteJacobs
(142 posts)We should ask him: why bother having a Supreme Court at all, then?
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia 2002:
"Government...derives its moral authority from God. It is the minister of God with powers to "avenge" to "execute wrath" including even wrath by the sword."
First Things May 2002
markpkessinger
(8,409 posts)I had never heard of this particular quote of his before. It prompted me to locate the original article:
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2002/05/gods-justice-and-ours
The whole piece is one of the sickest things I've read in a long, long time!
pansypoo53219
(21,016 posts)troll.
mahina
(17,778 posts)Some time around 1999 would have been good, but now will have to do.