Tag Archives: Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia: Holocaust Was Partially Brought About By Judicial Activism

By hnn

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s warnings on judicial activism appear to have gained a new chapter at the Utah Bar Association’s 2013 summer convention.

The Aspen Times reported Sunday that Scalia drew upon the Holocaust as an example of how judicial activism can lead to problems. According to the Utah Bar Association’s website, Scalia was slated to be the keynote speaker for the 2013 Summer Convention event, which was held from July 17-20 in Snowmass, Colo….

Scalia opened his talk with a reference to the Holocaust, which happened to occur in a society that was, at the time, “the most advanced country in the world.” One of the many mistakes that Germany made in the 1930s was that judges began to interpret the law in ways that reflected “the spirit of the age.” When judges accept this sort of moral authority, as Scalia claims they’re doing now in the U.S., they get themselves and society into trouble….

Source:
Huffington Post

Source URL:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/21/antonin-scalia-holocaust_n_3632118.html

Date:
7-21-13

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at History News Network – George Mason University

Sri Srinivasan, Supreme Court Justice? Obama Nominee Eyed As Potential SCOTUS Pick

By The Huffington Post News Editors

As Sri Srinivasan awaits the confirmation hearing on his nomination to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, some legal analysts are floating the principal deputy solicitor general as a potential frontrunner for the next Supreme Court opening.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider Srinivasan, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to the DC Circuit in 2012, on Wednesday. The federal appeals court in Washington, DC is considered one of the nation’s most powerful, and boasts many Supreme Court justices as alumni, including John Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Antonin Scalia.

However, even before Srinivasan comes under Senate consideration, legal analysts are eyeing the 46-year-old as Obama‘s next pick for the high court.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

God (Not SCOTUS) Will Be The Final Judge On Gay “Marriage”

By Fred Weinberg

There seems to have been a shift in the Republican party away from opposing so-called gay marriage and towards an acceptance of homosexuals being able to be married with the state’s imprimatur.

I can understand Senator Rob Portman’s position.  His son is gay, and he is still his son, and he loves him.

I saw Nicole Wallace on Fox News Sunday taking a similar position.  She worked in the Bush 43 White House.  I certainly understand Vice President Dick Cheney’s position because his situation is similar to Portman’s.

Here is my problem with all of that.

The state’s imprimatur.

As I have said many times in this space, what you do on your own time and who you do it with is your own business, and I don’t really care.

But.  Please include me out.

I don’t care if you covet Paris Hilton or Perez Hilton; but why do I need to know about it, much less be forced to approve of it?

If two people of the same sex want to set up housekeeping, they can enter into a civil union, which should give them every right that a married couple has.  And, for the record, I think the federal government should only involve itself in marriage where it is forced to (and, thus, parts of the Defense of Marriage Act probably ARE unconstitutional.)

Why is it so important for me to do anything but wish a gay couple well?

And by me, I mean all of us.

Truth be told, I don’t really know whether or not God believes that homosexuality is fundamentally wrong or that marriage is between a man and a woman.  However, he certainly arranged our plumbing to accommodate that theory.

I suspect that people on my side of the argument may eventually lose to a pop culture that places a heavy value on doing whatever feels good at the moment; and there will be, on the surface, acceptance of gay marriage.

If that’s the case, I’m glad I won’t be around to see the long-term effects.  Ultimately, it won’t be Antonin Scalia or Ruth Bader Ginsburg making the judgments. It will be a much higher authority, and I suspect that it will be loud and clear.

How do I know?

I don’t.  But, being willing to make a wager, I can calculate odds.  Let me quote William Shatner’s “Boston Legal” character, Denny Crane, when asked if he believed in God and why:

“If you believe in God and it turns out there is no God, there’s no harm no foul. . .but if you don’t believe in God and there is a God, you’re screwed.”

So, you need to ask yourself a question.  And, as the number of your tomorrows becomes significantly fewer than your yesterdays, the question may be more pressing.

The question is: do you want to bet against God?  For all eternity? Those seem like pretty big odds, even for a value player.

I cannot tell you whether there …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism

HUFFPOST HILL – Supreme Court Weighs Gay Marriage, Still No White House Tours

By The Huffington Post News Editors

The Supreme Court gave no clear signal where it was headed on Proposition 8, but there was no mistaking Antonin Scalia’s beliefs about septuagenarian breeding (He’s pro.). Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says she doesn’t use email, which means we can say whatever we want about her here. And Chris Christie vowed to keep Prince Harry clothed when the British royal visits New Jersey, even though “Naked Prince” sounds like a brightly colored beverage we’ve consumed on the Shore. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, March 26th, 2013:

GUN CONTROL: NO AGREEMENT ON BACKGROUND CHECKS – Sam Stein: “Negotiations over legislation that would extend background checks for gun buyers are still officially on. But aides on the Hill involved in those conversations said a breakthrough remains far off and discussions are unlikely to get serious for another week or so. ‘My guess is after Easter they will all start really talking because then that clock starts clicking,’ said a source close to negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity. The authors of the bill, set to head to the floor of the Senate after the Easter recess,were casting a wider net for potential Republican co-sponsors, according to a report this week. But one of those who reportedly being wooed — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) — downplayed the report…That means center stage remains occupied by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)… Schumer and Coburn remain at odds over two central issues — how those checks are conducted, and whether records should be kept of firearms transactions. Coburn wants new gun sales to use online portals for conducting background checks. Schumer wants a federal firearms license holder to do the work. Coburn doesn’t support keeping sales records for private transactions. Schumer has said he sees that as potentially gutting the purpose of the law.” [HuffPost]

VOTE-A-RAMA BODES ILL FOR GUN CONTROL – Sure, it was nearly four in the morning, but the world’s greatest deliberative body wasn’t afraid to make decisions about firearms. Roll Call: “Senators voted 50-49 in favor of an amendment by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to establish a two-thirds requirement for the passage of any gun control legislation in their chamber. While the budget resolution is nonbinding and the amendment did not win the 60 votes needed to be adopted, the outcome underscores how many senators strongly support gun rights, just as the chamber prepares to debate the biggest package of gun control measures in nearly two decades. Six Democrats from gun-friendly states joined a nearly united Republican conference to support Lee’s amendment: Max Baucus of Montana, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.” [Roll Call]

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Has Scalia Already Thrown In The Towel On Same Sex Marriage ?

By Peter J Reilly, Contributor

As we are gearing up for two days of Supreme Court consideration of same-sex marriage, Dorothy Samuels of the New York Times is wondering how Antonin Scalia is going to behave during the hearings.  In her piece “Scalia’s Gay Marriage Problem”  she notes his abhorrence of same sex unions expressed in his dissent in Lawrence v Texas.  She wonders if there might be some fireworks in the next two days: …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest