November 13, 2007
Today's Mandatory Detour
Posted by Savage Henry @ 9:42 AM
I heart Scalia. But even if you consider him the nearest thing to Hitler the US has ever seen, the one argument you have no footing for whatsoever is that the man is not one of the smartest people to ever sit on the bench at the Supreme Court.
Reading a simple Scalia interview -- an extemporaneous interview fer chrissake's -- like this one on orginalism reminds us that there are, in fact, giants living among us.
"The more you think about it, the more you realize it's either originalism or else you essentially tell your judges, 'Oh, wise judges, you went to Stanford Law School and Harvard and even Yale Law School. Govern us. You must know the answers to these profound philosophical questions as to whether there should be a right to abortion, whether there should be a right to suicide, whether there should be a right to homosexual conduct. After all, you went to Harvard and Yale and Stanford.'
Right. Fucking. On.
Comments
Here, here:
The notion of a living Constitution is expressed most clearly in recent Supreme Court decisions dealing with the Eighth Amendment's "cruel and unusual punishment" clause, Scalia said. "Those opinions say explicitly that what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment is not static," he said. "It changes from time to time to comport with 'the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.' Isn't that beautiful? 'Every day in every way we get better and better.' Societies only mature; they never rot."
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for rot. I just don't think our generation's version of rot should be constitutionally bequeathed to future generations.
Posted by: seed | November 13, 2007 9:16 PM