Results 1 to 4 of 4
Like Tree1Likes

Thread: Did Justice Antonin Scalia go too far this time?

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040

    Did Justice Antonin Scalia go too far this time?

    Did Justice Antonin Scalia go too far this time?

    Some say the tone of Justice Scalia's dissent targeting President Obama and illegal immigrants was too strident and partisan, even for the high court's longtime conservative firebrand.

    June 27, 2012, 5:00 a.m.

    WASHINGTON — Justice Antonin Scalia has never been shy about saying what he thinks and never reluctant to criticize those he disagrees with.

    For more than a quarter-century, the high court's term has nearly always ended with a rush of opinions in late June and a fiery dissent from Scalia.

    His colleagues sit with tight expressions or distant gazes as Scalia sounds off, his tone one of anger and disgust.

    His targets Monday included illegal immigrants and President Obama. Dispensing with what he called the "dry legalities" of the Arizona immigration case, he spoke of its citizens being "under siege" and states feeling "helpless before those evil effects of illegal immigration."

    "Are the sovereign states at the mercy of the federal executive's refusal to enforce the nation's immigration laws?" Scalia asked.

    Some said it was highly unusual, and perhaps out of line, for Scalia to cite Obama's announcement in mid-June that he was granting a two-year reprieve to young people who entered the country illegally as children. Obama may have called it "the right thing to do," Scalia said, but "Arizona may not think so."

    Usually, the justices rely only on what is in the legal record of the case.

    Liberal commentators and some law professors said Scalia's tone was strident and partisan.

    He is "sounding more like a conservative blogger or Fox News pundit than a justice," said George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen.

    Paul F. Campos, a law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, wrote on Salon about Scalia: "In his old age, he has become increasingly intolerant … and a pompous celebrant of his own virtue and rectitude."

    Edward Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former Scalia law clerk, said Scalia "was responding directly to the government's own argument. Scalia's basic point was to illustrate that the Arizona law didn't conflict with federal immigration law but instead was at odds with the current administration's refusal to enforce federal laws."

    Scalia, now 76 and the court's senior justice, spoke only for himself. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented as well, but did so in separate opinions. It was hard to miss the fact that Scalia's reproach was directed at an opinion that spoke for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the two who are likely to hold the deciding votes in the court's healthcare ruling, set for Thursday.

    Scalia has long been a dominant figure in the court's oral arguments. His quick wit and sarcastic jibes can ruffle lawyers, particularly those who are arguing for liberal rulings.

    It has been much debated, however, whether Scalia's dissents have helped or hurt his cause. His take-no-prisoners style has won him legions of admirers among conservatives. But he has also alienated some of the court's moderates, who split with him and went their own way.

    In 1989, he criticized Justice Sandra Day O'Connor when she refused to go along with an opinion by then-Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist that would have overturned the Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion. O'Connor said such a decision was premature, since the case before the court involved only minor regulation of abortion. In a full-bore dissent, Scalia said her view was "not to be taken seriously."

    Three years later, Justices Kennedy and David H. Souter joined with O'Connor and broke with Scalia to uphold the abortion right. More recently, Kennedy, O'Connor and Souter voted to uphold gay rights claims, despite fierce dissents from Scalia.

    Scalia had a good relationship with Rehnquist. Both conservatives, they almost always agreed on major cases. So far, the same has been true with Scalia and Roberts. The big test will come Thursday, however, when the chief justice begins the announcement of the court's decision on the constitutionality of the Obama administration's healthcare law.

    Did Justice Antonin Scalia's immigration dissent go too far? - latimes.com
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member ReggieMay's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    5,527
    I'd be willing to bet that the author of this hit piece was perfectly fine with Obama criticising the Supreme Court, while they sat captive in the front row, at his State of the Union address.
    "A Nation of sheep will beget a government of Wolves" -Edward R. Murrow

    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  3. #3
    Senior Member florgal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    3,386
    I'll just bet those same liberal commentators see nothing wrong with these Ginsberg comments:

    Justice Ginsburg: “I Would Not Look to the U.S. Constitution”

    http://blog.heritage.org/2012/02/08/justice-ginsburg-i-would-not-look-to-the-u-s-constitution/

  4. #4
    Senior Member cavmom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    CA
    Posts
    353
    Justice Scalia did not go too far...it was refreshing to hear one of the Justices say the truth for a change! I wonder what he'd like to say about Obama's tantrum after they ruled!

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •