(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Antonin Scalia says the supreme court should rule on cases based on "tradition and historical practice", not "precedent or law"

Scalia has also, in the past, complained about attempts to violate the will of the US Constitution's framers, such as one by an atheist who objected to the 1952 addition of "under God" to the 1890s-written Pledge of Allegiance.

Comments

[zenten.livejournal.com]

Um, I don't think this person has read the american constitution very closely.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

You are aware that this is Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia we are discussing?

And that's he's an "originalist", who's got the whole damn thing memorised as "the only law worth following"?

Fuck

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

The problem with ruling based on precedence or law is that the precedences and laws in question can be unconstitutional and should, therefore, be overturned. I'm a pretty strict literalist when it comes to interpreting the Constitution, with the added caveats of the ideas of Jefferson and Franklin (whom I consider to be the best of the Framers).

Gah.

[neobitch.livejournal.com]

Next, Justice Scalia reinstates the Rule of Thumb and sends out thumb-sized switches to every male US resident. :P

Re: Fuck

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I agree. At the same time, previous interpretations of the Constitution on the issues should *always* be considered, and, if they are to be overturned, they should be overturned knowingly, with reason, and with specific reference and explanation.

Re: Gah.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Obligatory comment: "Rule of thumb" as a thumb-sized stick to beat your wife with is an urban legend. The actual source is literally "to use the thumb as a ruler" - a carpentry thing.

[sivi-volk.livejournal.com]

That might well work, if he'd actually read any comments by the founding fathers, who said a number of times that the US is secular, that God has no part in their laws, etc, etc. It was stated very clearly a number of times. Americans seem to keep missing those bits.

[neobitch.livejournal.com]

Really, now? Thanks for pointing that out. I never thought to check Snopes or try to research it otherwise.

Sometimes, it's good to be wrong.

[prince-eric.livejournal.com]

It floors me that people are so ignorant (willfully or otherwise) as to the point of the first amendment -- given that two major groups of colonists (Quakers and Puritans) came to the new country precisely because the state-mandated religion in England was making their lives miserable, the intent and meaning of the first amendment (and by reason, what their answers would be on many of these questions) is pretty clear.....

[prince-eric.livejournal.com]

One wonders how Scalia would stand on things like slavery and the suffragist movement, given the rather obvious conflict between "tradition and historic precedent" and the actual verbiage of the Constitution....

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

The equivalent pre-metric unit of inch around here was called a "thumb", and a carpenter's measuring stick was called a 'thumbstick', etc. I believe the measurement used was the width of the first joint on the thumb, that's only a little over an inch on mine (I've got big hands).