Antonin Scalia's Greatest Hits

So our second-in-command (soon to be first I’m sure, sadly) Supreme recently had fun at some conservative stomping ground somewhere blasting those who had the temerity to question judicial appointments (I mean, he COULDN’T have been drawing the lines of battle before the hearings on John Roberts begin in earnest, could he?).

Well, bully for him (to quote TR…literally and figuratively in this case).

Unfortunately, we really can’t do a thing about this character since he’s installed at “the show” for life. In that regard, I hate to give Reagan credit for anything, but I have to admit that, after Robert Bork’s nomination was defeated, The Gipper went out and got someone who was more doctrinaire, and after expending political capital on the first nominee, the Dems didn’t have anything left to defeat the second, and we’ll be living with the result for a long time to come.

However, that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be tried in the court of public opinion from time to time, if for no other reason to remind us all of what a nut he truly is (an extremely intelligent and erudite nut, but a nut all the same).

Here are some quotes of his that particularly caught my eye:

“Mere factual innocence is no reason not to carry out a death sentence properly reached.”

“If we're picking people to draw out of their own conscience and experience a 'new' Constitution, we should not look principally for good lawyers. We should look to people who agree with us. When we are in that mode, you realize we have rendered the Constitution useless."

"[The Freedom of Information Act is] the Taj Mahal of the Doctrine of Unanticipated Consequences, the Sistine Chapel of Cost-Benefit Analysis Ignored."

These rulings give you a look into what is going on with him also:

Leave abortion up to the states; court should get out of this area…Roe v. Wade should be overturned (June 1992)

Taxpayer funding OK for parochial school materials (June 2000)

Can't sue polluters after they stop polluting. (Jan 2000)

Limit Clean Water Act (CWA) restrictions to navigable waterways. (Jan 2001)

Rape victims cannot sue their alleged attackers. (May 2000)

Felons may possess guns unless state explicitly prohibits it. (Jun 1998)

Limit employer liability for sexual harassment by employees. (Jun 1998)

Miranda rights can be overruled by Congress. (Jun 2000)

Also, it is thought in a great many circles around Washington that Scalia was the author of the majority opinion in “Bush v. Gore 2000,” perversely (but cunningly) twisting the intent of the Equal Protection Statute as grounds to award the Florida election (and the presidency) to Dubya.

As I said, we can’t touch this guy. But that doesn’t mean that he should be ignored either.