5 replies to this topic

[concert andy]

In Princeton promoting his book, he defended an argument on the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act.



PRINCETON - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Monday found himself defending legal writings that some say they find offensive and antigay.

Speaking at Princeton University, Scalia was asked by a gay student if it was necessary for him to equate laws banning sodomy with those barring bestiality and murder.

"I don't think it's necessary, but I think it's effective," Scalia said, adding that legislative bodies can ban what they believe to be immoral.

Scalia has been speaking around the country to promote his new book, Reading Law. His lecture at Princeton came just days after the court agreed to take on two cases that challenge the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Some in the audience who had come to hear Scalia speak about his book applauded his answer, but more had clapped at the question.

"It's a form of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called the 'reduction to the absurd,' " Scalia told freshman Duncan Hosie of San Francisco during the question-and-answer period. "If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?"

Scalia said he was not equating sodomy with murder but drawing a parallel between the bans on both.

Then he deadpanned: "I'm surprised you aren't persuaded."

Hosie said afterward that he believes that Scalia's writings tend to "dehumanize" gays.

As Scalia often does in public appearances, he cracked wise, taking aim mostly at those who view the Constitution as a "living document" that changes with the times.

"It isn't a living document," Scalia said. "It's dead, dead, dead, dead."

He said that people who see the Constitution as changing often argue they are taking the more flexible approach. But their true goal is to set policy permanently, he said.

"My Constitution is a very flexible one," he said. "There's nothing in there about abortion. It's up to the citizens. . . . The same with the death penalty."

Scalia said that interpreting laws requires adherence to the words used and their meanings when they were written.

http://www.philly.co...s_writings.html

[Tim the Beek]

Scalia is full of crap. He claims to be a strict constructionist, but will use all sorts of twisted logic to bend it to effect things he has personal beliefs about.

[hoagie]

I bet he bangs his wife in the ass.

[TakeAStepBack]

"My Constitution is a very flexible one," he said. "There's nothing in there about abortion. It's up to the citizens. . . . The same with the death penalty."

Same thing with gay marriage, pal. Just pick and choose which items are up for citizen debate. The constitution is a document built to protect citizens rights FROM government and each other. It's not a free for all for central planning rent seekers.

[concert andy]

"My Constitution is a very flexible one," he said. "There's nothing in there about abortion. It's up to the citizens. . . . The same with the death penalty."

Same thing with gay marriage, pal. Just pick and choose which items are up for citizen debate. The constitution is a document built to protect citizens rights FROM government and each other. It's not a free for all for central planning rent seekers.

I agree.

The Bible says it...

(not my opinion, devils advocate)

[PeaceFrog]

In general, things that don't bend break.

(non-newtonian fluids are the exception to this generalization)