Posted on 11/13/2010 8:24:12 PM PST by Nachum
LUBBOCK, Texas -- One of the most conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court and one of the most liberal ones sparred Friday over capital punishment, the direct election of senators and various other constitutional questions during a rare public debate that highlighted their philosophical differences.
Antonin Scalia, 74, the longest-serving current justice, appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan, and Stephen Breyer, 72, appointed by Democrat Bill Clinton, shared the stage in front of a crowd of thousands during a West Texas event organized by Texas Tech University Law School.
They particularly clashed on the question of capital punishment.
Scalia argued that while there's room for debate about whether the death penalty is a "good idea or a bad idea," it is not cruel and unusual punishment.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I’d rather have a discussion with a brick wall ... at least, a brick wall will not drive you crazy with illogic.. and it does serve at least one useful service.
Libs like Breyer, however ....
Compassion for the guilty is treason to the innocent.
The death penalty is certainly not cruel and unusual by the standards of the time when the phrase was used, which is the original meaning of the term — and just what Breyer seems to argue is the standard.
The prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, like most things in the US Constitution, com,es from British experience. The Americans emulated the English Bill of Rights (cribbing from it word for word in many instances!), and wanted badly to avoid such things as drawing and quartering, and burning at the stake, and other atrocities.
Never was simple capital punishment considered cruel and unusual.
Of course, capital punishment is undesirable from the standpoint of the condemned criminal: it is definitely a source of fear for most convicts. However, most of the arguments against capital punishment are arguments which apply to ANY form of punishment. Think about it!
Nice quote - you write that yourself?
Why is it that only Republican Presidents get suckered into appointing liberal Supreme Court Justices? I can’t see a conservative Justice ever getting past Clinton’s or Obama’s screening process.
I'm not sure why that's the moral high ground Leftwingtards aspire to, but they do.
One exception ~ Dr. Dean said there's a class of killers who are going to go to prison and they'll kill again ~ a guard, a white collar criminal, a visitor, someone! He said execution is the only way to stop them for killing again, and is therefore the only moral course of action available to anyone.
Well, anyway, Breyer prefers to murder the innocent ~ guess he's made funny.
Scalia called the writing of the Constitution “providential,” and the birth of political science.
“There’s very little that I would change,” he said. “I would change it back to what they wrote, in some respects. The 17th Amendment has changed things enormously.”
That amendment allowed for U.S. Senators to be elected by the people, rather than by individual state legislatures.
“We changed that in a burst of progressivism in 1913, and you can trace the decline of so-called states’ rights throughout the rest of the 20th century. So, don’t mess with the Constitution.”
Isn't he awesome?
Justice Scalia has a great mind!!!! Love him.
Indeed!
Scalia is a fine man and a great jurist. I have nothing but hte highest respect for him. He and Clarence Thomas are superlative, absolutely spuerlative.
I have great regard for C.J, Roberts and Justice Alito as well. This is the first time there have been FOUR really good and great justices on the supreme court at once. It used to be just Rehnquist (another really great justice and good, good man), Scalia and Thomas. We are making slow progress with the court.
Me too. Pray for his long and healthy life!
One of our best SCOTUS Justices, ever!
I am happy you replied before I signed out tonight!
Yes, yes, I agree with everything you wrote.
Justice Scalia is a favorite of mine, but like you, I also really like our other three (Roberts, Alito and Thomas) and I always liked and admired Chief Justice Rehnquist!
People who don’t understand the difference between justified killing, and murder, you cannot reason with them. They simply must not be allowed to hold positions that can impact such decisions.
It’s society’s duty to protect the innocent from the guilty and when the guilty take another person’s life, society has a duty to ensure they an never do it again. Murder someone, you forfeit your right to live. Kill someone defending your life they are trying to steal from you, THAT is not murder (and no this doesn’t make thieves or murderers ‘defending themselves’ trying to defend their lives from police).
I pray for Alito, Scalia, Thomas, and Roberts every night: that God will grant them health, wisdom, and protection.
I also pray for Ginsburg, that her heart will turn to Christ.
Blessings! Sweet you. I pray for them too, and also Justice Kennedy. He said he won’t retire until “after” 2012’s election. Ginsburg? She’s Scalia’s friend. Strange. I think she’s a horrid Left-wing radical, and wholly against our Constitution.
Nice, but I'd paraphrase you with ...
Compassion for the guilty is punishment of the innocent.
Stay healthy, Scalia. That’s all I have to say.
Ayn Rand.
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