The Augean Stables.. round one for Hercules!

“For years I have read that Scalia is brilliant. Yet, it seems to me that most of his opinions, like this one, are sophomoric drivel. I wonder if his reputation as a legal scholar is another example of the Justice Has No Robe?”

To be fair (and this comes from someone that has almost 100% disagreed with the man) he USED to be pretty damn coherent and sharp. His decision in Arizona v. Hicks, for example, represented the “best” of conservative legal interpretation (short version: pigs get your hands off my stuff!), and I still quote to my Crim Justice classes. While I tore my hair out at his philosophy, his analysis was usually airtight, and moreover he could take bizzarely complex principles and summarize them in language that my 8-year old niece could understand.

Then 9/11 happened and . . .

I don’t know what the hell happened to him. Mabye the towers fell on his favorite donut shop or something, but he’s gone steadily batguano insane ever since then. Like stark raving lunatic insane.

I hate to say anything favorable about McSenile, but it appears much the same thing happened to him. Remember the Straight Talk Express? I didn’t agree with his policies in 2000, but at least he spoke clearly and honestly (well, as honest as a politican is ever likely to get). Now . . . heck, I watched his speech the other week and my jaw hit the floor. Forget the tripe nonsense he was spewing — Disney animitronics seem more lifelike.

Mabye the protesters were right — there WAS something released in the air on 9-11. Some kind of brain-eating virus/dust/radiation/whatever that sought out Repub flesh to gnaw on. Regardless, if you’re bored enough dig up some of his pre-2000 decisions and take a look. He really was, at one time, quite the jurist.

back on topic . . .

How friggin’ embarrassing is it that whether habeas is a principle we should concern ourselves with had to go all the way to the Supremes? And 4 of them didn’t understand what the fuss was?!? Kennedy cements his place in history with this one.

On the plus side, I spent the last two days working up a Powerpoint presentation for one of my classes — the history of Criminal Law in America. I was wondering how to wake them up after talking about the Justinian Codex and the Great Writ. This is bread from heaven!

“Now, I know you’re saying to yourselves, ‘why the heck should we learn about something almost 800 years old? Can’t we study something more relevant?’ Well, my little grasshoppers and grasshopperettes, let me show you WHY you need to study this boring stuff . . .”.

I just wish I could get an audio file of James Earl Jones (or mabye the movie-commercial-voiceover-guy) reading these quotes. With echo and reverb. Patrick Stewart mabye? He could give it that “voice-of-universal-basic-goddamn-truth” sonorus rumble.

Great news for our nation and people, tempered by the radically un-American ideas of those who are still in power.

Scalia:

“THE CHIEF JUSTICE’s dissent,
which I join, shows that the procedures prescribed by
Congress in the Detainee Treatment Act provide the essential
protections that habeas corpus guarantees; there
has thus been no suspension of the writ, and no basis
exists for judicial intervention beyond what the Act allows.
My problem with today’s opinion is more fundamental
still: The writ of habeas corpus does not, and never has,
run in favor of aliens abroad; the Suspension Clause thus
has no application, and the Court’s intervention in this
military matter is entirely ultra vires”

So, he’s basically saying Habeas was never suspended; rather that it has been expanded to include aliens abroad…am I right in that interpretation of what he’s saying?

IANAL but I have always held the view that if we as a people in the US believe that individuals are entitled to the right of habeas corpus, etc, to a certain spirit of justice if you will, even for the most egregious cannibalistic predatory serial killer then that’s what we stand for period. If we detain people in the name of the US, US justice should apply to all human beings brought into our detention.

Again, IANAL, but I was able to shut down an online argument once with a guy yelling about terrorists are guilty until proven otherwise and they have no “rights”. This is just a very dangerous position for anyone to take because what rights would this guy want if the finger were pointed at him?

We are the USA and we stand for certain things.

Not to go OT but this is great new; however, what is the latest news on FISA? More calls needed after yesterday?

Thank you for this post. Great job!

Not to go OT but this great news but what is the latest on FISA? More calls needed after yesterday?