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Justice Scalia: “A Living Constitution Doesn’t Exist” [Speech at Texas A&M]
Texas A&M University - Aggie Daily ^ | May 5, 2005

Posted on 05/05/2005 3:22:31 PM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative

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To: CIDKauf
By the way, John Locke articulated the rights of man that our founding fathers agreed were the foundation of sound government.
He expressed the radical view that government is morally obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property. He explained the principle of checks and balances to limit government power. He favored representative government and a rule of law. He denounced tyranny. He insisted that when government violates individual rights, people may legitimately rebel. --Jim Powell at the Foundation for Economic Education.

121 posted on 05/07/2005 7:33:37 PM PDT by risk
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To: Bahbah

The sooner this man is the Chief Justice, the happier I will be.


122 posted on 05/07/2005 7:37:27 PM PDT by PrkChps (There really, really are conservatives in Massachusetts!)
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To: GoLightly

The problem I have with the majority decision on that case is that it allows interntional criminals to own guns here.

If I remember right, that particular code had only been used in about 6 cases, so it was hardly doing much damage to the second amendment rights of most Americans who by and large do not travel outside the country and break laws while doing so.

Some make the argument that a foreign court should not have jurisdiction in whether or not a person should be stripped of his right to bear arms here. In fact, that is not what the law did. What it did was to allow the U.S. government to consider a foreign criminal unworthy of gun ownership here in this country. That was not a foreign court stipping you of your right to bear arms, that was our government.

So as usual, the libs on the Supreme court ignore the congress and changed the law to bad effect. In this case, allowing international criminals to own guns here.


123 posted on 05/07/2005 8:00:56 PM PDT by planekT (Go DeLay, Go!)
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To: risk

Locke, Berkeley, and David Hume "The Empiricists", doubted that man could concieve in his mind that there was a God, unless that God placed the thought in the mind of the man. You're right, I did mean the 5th amendment


124 posted on 05/07/2005 8:22:19 PM PDT by CIDKauf (No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.)
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To: risk

I'm really being dumb...I believe the "pursuit of happiness" is the Declaration of Independence rather than the 5th amendment


125 posted on 05/07/2005 8:27:11 PM PDT by CIDKauf (No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.)
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To: planekT
The entire code is long. I posted a link to it earlier in this thread, but don't feel like going back to it & checking to see if there are specific provisions in it about the exact type of case you're talking about.

What it did was to allow the U.S. government to consider a foreign criminal unworthy of gun ownership here in this country.

If the specific clause that this case was about is the one that we've used to protect against the kind of individual you're talking about here, our legislators best get on the ball & amend the code.

My concern is about little Johnny Taliban (an American) involved in blowing up a pizzeria in Israel, getting convicted for it there, serving a couple of years & then coming home to bring his war here. The majority on SCOTUS wants the US to be blinded.

126 posted on 05/07/2005 8:28:16 PM PDT by GoLightly
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To: CIDKauf

Yes, right. Thanks for mentioning the "planted thoughts" idea. It fits with a notion Lewis and Tolkien had about Christianity being the ultimate myth, and one God would have suggested to help human beings find the truth. I suppose they were just extending Lock, et. al.


127 posted on 05/07/2005 9:03:24 PM PDT by risk
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To: GoLightly

By foreign, or international criminal, I mean anyone who has been convicted in any court other then one here in the U.S. He could be Johnny Taliban (a U.S. citizen), or he could be someone from another country who comes here and gains citizenship (or he could have dual citizenship at the time he committed the crime, for that matter).

I'll check back through the thread for your link. I don't think your fear of the Johnny Taliban scenario is unjustified, and I'm pretty sure that the law said "any court" because it in fact did mean any court, for exactly the reasons that you and I have laid out here.

While Mr. Small may have just smuggled a few guns into Japan illegaly, he could just as well have been a much more heinous character, and with the new decision, it wouldn't matter.

On the other hand, if he was convicted of sticking gum under a table in some nutty country where they lock you up for that, well, like you said, "it depends". Certainly there probably should be some exceptions made in those likely rare cases.

But to just open yourself up to foreign criminals without a care is pure stupidity.



128 posted on 05/07/2005 9:15:52 PM PDT by planekT (Go DeLay, Go!)
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To: planekT
From the ruling in the other thread:

Some time later, a search of his residence, business premises, and automobile revealed a .380 caliber Browning pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition. Id., at 47a-51a, 98a-99a. This prosecution ensued.

What I would like to know, what they searching for? The police had to have had cause to do the search. Were they looking for the gun or were they trying to prove something else against him & just happened to find the gun in the process of doing the search?

129 posted on 05/07/2005 9:56:28 PM PDT by GoLightly
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To: Constitutionalist Conservative
“The Constitution is not a living document. It’s a legal document, and legal documents do not change.”
This isn't going to be well received in liberal land.

For that matter, there are some right here at FR who believe that the Constitution is a living document who won't receive this well either.
It's already out there in their posts, saved forever, for those who care to look.

Going to have to remember that line..."It’s a legal document, and legal documents do not change." Scalia

130 posted on 05/07/2005 10:08:01 PM PDT by philman_36 ("It’s a legal document, and legal documents do not change." Scalia)
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To: GoLightly

It could have been on something else, but you'd think we'd have heard about that.

As the law had been interpreted up until the SCOTUS decision, it would have been enough that he lied on the application.


131 posted on 05/07/2005 10:24:43 PM PDT by planekT (Go DeLay, Go!)
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To: planekT
It could have been on something else, but you'd think we'd have heard about that.

Not necessarily. If it was something else, they may not have been able to make a case against him.

As the law had been interpreted up until the SCOTUS decision, it would have been enough that he lied on the application.

You're right. The ruling made his lie, not a lie. The sentence by the Japanese court didn't count & it was unnecessary to to admit to it on the application.

132 posted on 05/07/2005 10:33:13 PM PDT by GoLightly
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