Scalia: Some Judges Display Too Much Power (blames "abstract moralizing")

[Khephra]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says he believes "abstract moralizing" has led the American judicial system into a quagmire, and that matters such as abortion and assisted suicide are "too fundamental" to be resolved by judges.

"What I am questioning is the propriety, indeed the sanity, of having value-laden decisions such as these made for the entire society ... by judges," Scalia said on Tuesday during an appearance at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

In some cases -- and in response to a question from the audience, he acknowledged Brown vs. Board of Education was one -- there is a societal benefit when a court rules against prevailing popular opinion, but generally speaking it is fundamentally bad for democracy, he said.

While Scalia never mentioned the gay marriage issue specifically, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has come under fire nationally for overstepping its authority on the issue.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-scalia-harvard,0,1439948.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[Eye and Monkey]

1. "abstract moralizing"??? Pot, meet kettle.

[IndianaGreen]

23. What the Hell was Bush v. Gore but an intrusion by the Court?

On an unrelated issue, Scalia was asked why he refused to step aside in a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney when the two had gone duck hunting together.

At first he refused to discuss the case, but then said there was no legal precedent for recusal and that any controversy was whipped up by the media.

If there is a judge that ought to be impeached it is little Mussolini. Like you said, this is a case of pot meeting kettle! Scalia stopped the people of Florida from counting all the votes because he wanted Bush in the White House. Scalia considered himself about the will of the American people, and above the Constitution.

I just saw a segment on the Dan Abrams show on MSNBC where he had the co-author of an article on Vanity Fair in which many of the Supreme Court's law clerks during the Bush v. Gore fiasco have spoken out about the blatant political reasons that made the Court intervene in the Florida recount. Add to that Scalia's arrogance in refusing to recuse himself from a case involving his pal Cheney.

Scalia is a total puke!

[Dickie Flatt]

2. It's time for Scalia to go home and leave us alone. [n/t]

[Carla in Ca]

13. My sig says what I think

[Coconut Buddha Ape]

3. translation:

In some cases -- and in response to a question from the audience, he acknowledged Brown vs. Board of Education was one -- there is a societal benefit when a court rules against prevailing popular opinion, but generally speaking it is fundamentally bad for democracy, he said.

Translated:
"You may have won last time... but this time the advantage will be OURS!"

[0007]

4. Birds of the feathers'

"On an unrelated issue, Scalia was asked why he refused to step aside in a case involving Vice President Dick Cheney when the two had gone duck hunting together."

"At first he refused to discuss the case, but then said there was no legal precedent for recusal and that any controversy was whipped up by the media."


Cheney & Scalia has a new duck hunting dog

[yardwork]

9. That's a very disturbing photo

It looks like Night of the Living Dead.

[MisterP]

19. McCain's revenge for being treated like furniture:

sudden man-on-man hug!

[Catfight]

37. For crying out loud, how the hell do these people look in the mirror?

Why doesn't he just anoint Georgie's feet and kiss them?

[BillZBubb]

5. The son of a bitch stopped vote counting in an election

to get his guy installed as pResident, and he has the friggin nerve to talk about other judges using too much power?

Scalia is a first rate moron.

[aquart]

6. Physician, heal thyself.

What a perfect hypocrite.

[yellowcanine]

7. That's rich coming from Anthony "Duckblind Justice: Scalia Who had no

problem wielding his power to install his selection as President against the will of the people.

[Disturbed]

8. If the Neo Facisist retain power..

in the WH and Congress Amerika will have a few more like this ASSHOLE and Amerika will be a Neo Fascist Police State.

[bpilgrim]

10. “Whenever I hear the word culture, I reach for my revolver.”

Joseph Goebbels

Fascism is a poisonous ideology that grows and adapts to its circumstances -- Eurofascism reflected European vices; American fascism is similarly home-brewed. Therein lies the challenge in identifying it and combating it. Fascism always wraps itself in the flag, always seeks absolute power, always brands opponents as traitors, always relies heavily on propaganda for dissemination of its ideas, always invokes subversive enemies (at home and abroad), always embraces militarism and permanent war, always favors politicizing of police functions (and expanding them and the surveillance state), always scorns intellectuals, artists, and bourgeois democratic values, always is hostile to leftist and labor movements, and is obsessed with idealized images of a mythic "better time" of the past (while at the same time destroying that past, and the nation as a whole).

more...
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/

peace

[Dudley_DUright]

11. I question Fat Tony's sanity if he can not see the monumental

hypocrisy in his statements. This is the man Bush wants as chief justice.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Versus his constrictive moralizing .. er...constructive ...

Well, he's a textualist. Which means he can lawyer the hell out of any word.

[Character Assassin]

14. Just flew in from the coast, and BOY, are my arms tired.

When the hell did Scalia start doing a stand-up act?

Oh, that's right, when he took the job.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Holy fuck! Where ya been???

:hi:

[Character Assassin]

16. Getting completely innocuous posts banned over in 'General'

I'm about to leave my department for another one, Ducky, and thanks for asking.

I've been, more or less, on duty and in combat, and I've really missed getting out of line so I could have my ass handed to me on a platter by you.

Smootch, and me wuv 'oo that much more for noticing my reappearance.

It has been a while, hasn't it?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. It has....

uuuh....so lotsa Bush stickers up there?

(and yeah Scalia's doing some good acid, eh?)

[Character Assassin]

18. No, Salinas is solidly Dem. So is, suprisingly, Monterey.

But there are innumerable signs up EVERYWHERE for all local elections. Here in the Middle Kingdom, people take local politics more seriously than they do in Boston, fer chrissakes.

I have seen not one federal-level political sign, shirt, sticker, etc.... But then, they don't grow 'em stupid out this way either.

It's understood that Bush will win, and people concentrate on what's important, so local politics are like heroin. I don't have the testicular fortitude to get involved in anything more than voting. They'll tear your head off around here!

If we could just get rid of that mouth-breathing dump truck Sam Farr.....

[kodi]

20. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal"

abstract moralizing to the hilt.

seems to be just another liberal attempt at "value-laden decisions such as these made for the entire society"

as an italian american i am ashamed of scalia. he is a fascist better suited for italy under mussolini.

[Amigust]

21. "fundamentally bad for democracy"

but generally speaking it is fundamentally bad for democracy, he said.

What an incredible hypocrite, after leading the SC to select Bush against the will of the people.

May those words burn his mouth.

[Character Assassin]

22. Whoopsie. The constitional mechanism worked in that case.

It's a minority opinion around here, but, just in case you're game, please detail exactly how he, and the supreme court, worked against the will of the people. I can't stand Scalia, but then, I can't stand civic and constitutional ignorance, either.

Please be very, very precise.

[tabasco]

31. I imagine you've read this already.

Should answer your question.

http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZD.html

[Character Assassin]

38. I've read it.

[Downtown Hound]

24. Too much power?

You mean like, ignoring a majority of voters in the country and hand-picking a president?

God what a fascist, hypocritical asswipe! He should be in jail!

[Dem2theMax]

25. Some judges display too much, period.

America (The Book)
A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
By Jon Stewart and gang
Chapter 5
Page 99

There they are. ALL the judges. Displaying EVERYTHING.
I thought Jon was kidding on the show.
Bought the book yesterday.
He ain't kidding. :crazy:

(I know, it's off topic, but I couldn't resist the headline. It was just waiting for someone who has the book to come along and put PAGE 99 up here. Wish I had a scanner. ;) )

[FlyByNight]

26. Why are people like Scalia,...

Bush* and conservatives in general so utterly detached from what they're actually saying? The hypocrisy is simply breathtaking.

Hey Tony! You helped to negate the wishes of millions of voters due to your "abstract moralizing" about who should occupy the White House. Do you even listen to yourself? :grr:

[kayell]

27. So who should make the decisions Scalia? An american ayatollah?

[ProfessorGAC]

28. Then He Should Resign

Obviously, even at his lofty position, he has failed to prevent or correct this quagmire. He is therefore, by his own admission, unqualified to be a judge.

So, he should resign.
The Professor

[Supersedeas]

36. I'll second that.

[sendero]

29. Is there any procedure or mechanism....

.... for impeaching a SC judge? This piece of garbage has to go.

[ChrisK]

30. Mr Scalia seems a bit cagey in my opinion..

In one statement he says that "abstract moralizing has led the American judicial system into a quagmire", and in the next a person brings up Brown vs. Board of Education as an example of why they (the Supreme court) needs to "buck the system"...because sometimes the status quo is wrong no matter what the "popular opinion" says.

When he uses words like "too fundamental" in reference to the decisions that he and the other justices make I find that disheartening because it is the job of the courts to give people there freedom to make this decisions for themselves...the courts are there to give you the room to decide what you feel is moral, not tell you how to live as a moral person....The choice is yours, not there's in regard to moral options.

I'm sorry , but when you speak of abortion and assisted suicide you are speaking about religions bearing, which is part of the problem...not everyone see religion as the main stay in life to live by and there inlays the problem, again you can't dictate to the general populace how they should live...general laws to follow like not to murder and steal?..yes but how they should live there personal lives?, No, you are over-stepping your boundaries in that area.

I think Justice Scalia is a smart enough person to know his, and the other justices, legal reach in moral opinions and where that line is drawn...you can't dictate morals on the people because it's not your place to do so, you can set an example and hope others will follow but thats about it.

You can't have an open-minded society when you're not encouraged to think

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. Delusional is more like it.

He is shocked, SHOCKED that he can't socialize with a person whose case will be presented before him without giving the public the perception of a conflict. I wish I could remember his words correctly. To parapharse he said something like, things have deteriorated in this country if judges weren't allowed these kinds of relationships. Honey, I would consider it a step in the right direction if judges recused themselves from ruling over a case that involved a friend or a business acquaintance.

[Surf Cowboy]

33. I wish that sonofabitch would just die.

He's a disgrace to the legal profession.

[UTUSN]

34. Definition of "Asshole": No Sense of Irony n/t

[tom_paine]

35. Naturally, Fat Tony describes HIMSELF to a tee

He is both corrupt as a Nazi judge, yet equally incapable of seeing himself as anything else but the OPPOSITE of what he actually is.

Laughable, except this Opus Dei Medeval Bushevik Waterboy controls so much of our judicial decisions and will do so until Satan drags him off to hell.