In a recent lecture and book-reading at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative D.C. think tank, the notoriously controversial Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia rattled off a list of hot-button issues that he considers no-brainers, tipping his hand about how he’s likely to vote on any of the LGBT-related cases that are poised to be reviewed by the high court:
“The death penalty? Give me a break. It’s easy. Abortion? Absolutely easy. Nobody ever thought the Constitution prevented restrictions on abortion. Homosexual sodomy? Come on. For 200 years, it was criminal in every state.”
For the record, I haven’t suddenly started entertaining pie-in-the-sky hallucinations about Scalia casting a pro-equality vote. I just think it’s more than a little imprudent to be making specific comments about an issue that’s almost certain to go before the Supreme Court in the upcoming term. And “homosexual sodomy?” Come on, Tony, show some respect in the terminology you use. You’re supposed to be an allegedly impartial arbiter of the law, not a hellfire-and-brimstone fundamentalist preacher.
Scalia also referred to himself as a “textualist” in matters of constitutional interpretation, meaning that he casts his 21st-century gaze (okay, 20th-century gaze…) back to the 1780s in order to somehow psychically commune with and ascertain the intentions of a disparate group of Enlightenment-era men, most of whom couldn’t conceive of things like freedom and enfranchisement for African Americans, child labor laws, or women’s suffrage, let alone, I dunno, the Internet.
At age 76, Justice Scalia isn’t going to be around forever, but a President Mitt Romney would ensure that Scalia’s head-in-the-sand judicial philosophy lives on long after the anti-gay justice leaves the bench. As Bill Keller pointed out in the New York Times earlier this year, Romney “is committed to filling any Supreme Court vacancies with Scalias.”
Just one more reason that I, Wayne, and many others believe the upcoming election to be the most important one for LGBT rights in our lifetimes.
[...] philosophy lives on long after the anti-gay justice leaves the bench,” John Becker at Truth Wins Out writes today: As Bill Keller pointed out in the New York Times earlier this year, Romney [...]
Those statements seem to come very close to grounds for recusal. From wikipedia:
“…The same section also provides that a judge is disqualified “where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding”; when the judge has previously served as a lawyer or witness concerning the same case or has expressed an opinion concerning its outcome; or when the judge or a member of his or her immediate family has a financial interest in the outcome of the proceeding.”
and it looks like we have a precedent from the man himself…
“…Scalia recused himself in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, a First Amendment case challenging inclusion of the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, after giving a public speech in which Scalia stated his view that Newdow’s claims were meritless.”
Gee, he’s not biased at all. Wonder why the RRRWers aren’t crying about “activist judges” here. Oh, yeah, because he’s biased towards their side.
I just f–kn hate him.
This from the guy who decided that corporations are people? It’s right there in the constitution somewhere.
I have to agree with Gary. This man is eminently despicable along with Uncle Clarence. They are the penultimate of the politicized judiciary. Impeachment is probably the only recourse and it will never happen with fundagelical christianist republicons in such ascendancy.
Hi there,
I just read an article on discrimination that you posted a while back on your blog: http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2012/10/30257/
I thought you might be interested in a workplace infographic we just published, it’s titled ‘Discrimination and Dollars’, check it out: http://complianceandsafety.com/blog/workplace-infographic-discrimination-and-dollars/
If you like it, feel free to publish it on your site.
Thanks a lot,
Matthew Pelletier
Director of Public Relations
C&S Safety Training Videos
[...] is a must-watch video. It’s another reminder of just how important the upcoming presidential election is for the cause of LGBT civil rights, and the leaps [...]