Posted on 10/19/2017 10:23:56 AM PDT by Maceman
Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner sees “absolutely no value” in studying the U.S. Constitution because “eighteenth-century guys” couldn’t have possibly foreseen the culture and technology of today.
In a recent op-ed for Slate, Judge Posner, a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, argued that the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the post–Civil War amendments “do not speak to today.”
“I see absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, day, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation (across the centuries — well, just a little more than two centuries, and of course less for many of the amendments),” he wrote. “Eighteenth-century guys, however smart, could not foresee the culture, technology, etc., of the 21st century.”
He added, “let’s not let the dead bury the living.” Judge Posner, an outspoken opponent of late Justice Antonin Scalia, also blasted “absurd” posthumous encomia for the late conservative.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
But if you ask me, what this Reagan-appointed judge says about the Constitution is so outrageously appalling that it should be posted here every day.
Anyway, for those of you who missed it when it was last published in September of this year, here it is again.
Thanks. I haven’t seen it before. It is appalling.
Judge Posner has gotten progressively weirder over the last 25 years.
This is dangerous, the constitution is what keeps chaos and mayhem at bay.
Without it things would deteriorate very quickly.
Principles of liberty are timeless and beyond technology.
The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour . . . - Article III, Section 1.
With all due respect to Judge Posner, he ignores that the Founding States made the Constitution amendable so that the states can update it when they deem it necessary.
> “eighteenth-century guys” couldn’t have possibly foreseen the culture and technology of today <
Judge Posner is right about that! The Founding Fathers stupidly did not include an amendment process in the Constitution. So there is no way to update it. Oh, wait...there is an amendment process in the Constitution.
Maybe Posner was absent the day they covered that in law school.
In a sane world, he would be immediately impeached and removed. He’s expressly rejected his oath of office.
Fortunately that guy retired this year and is off the bench.
Unfortunately he is lecturing at Univ of Chicago.
I haven’t seen it before, either.
This guy should be impeached on his statements alone..............
I posted a long response on this, as disgusted as I was.
Knowing WHY the founders constructed the Constitution as they did is VITAL to interpreting the constitutionality of a situation.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to comment on the constitutionality of something unless you understand what the constitution IS and why it was created.
It was one of the most shocking and ignorant statements I have ever seen, from a specific group of people whose shocking and ignorant statements I have become accustomed to hearing.
No need if you actually making up a new country since you hate the existing one.
I’ll put him down as a “strict destructionist.”
...Crickets...
So he doesn’t believe in basic God-given rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press? He may hate the 2nd amendment and may want to change parts of the Constitution — I get that.
But I find it depressing how anyone could not admire and believe in the basic freedoms contained in the Constitution ... UNLESS ... they don’t believe in the people’s inherent right to freedom itself and limitations imposed on the government.
If the Founders couldn’t have foreseen today’s culture, its because they were sane men.
Posner is one of many termites embedded within our foundation.
This is standard leftist boilerplate BS. Don’t be fooled. This guy can’t be that stupid, although these days who knows.
Technology changes, and the founders were quite aware of this. It begs the question, though - he is missing the point.
What doesn’t change is human nature, and the founders were profoundly cognizent of this. There’s no way around this, and for him to overlook this is a tell. That’s why the Constitution is an enduring document. It is interpreted in light of modern life, not in a vacuum. It’s not even really that complicated.
The federal government is supposed to leave us the fuck alone and protect us from invasion, and not much else.
What DOES get complicated is all the lies and BS that the spoilers and crooks and dishonest politicians want to foist on everyone. Don’t be fooled.
Ah yes, POS Posner.
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