Free Republic

--SNIP-- Scalia’s point is central to understanding the backwardness of this ruling. Obamacare was written with the language Scalia described for a very specific reason. The goal was to coerce states into creating their own exchanges by tying access to federal subsidies to the creation of state-specific Obamacare “marketplaces.” Recall Jonathan Gruber, the MIT economist and architect of Obamacare, who became a household name when it was revealed that he mocked the “stupidity of the American voter” for believing Obamacare wouldn’t ban their insurance plans or increase costs. He also stated in January 2012: “I think what’s important to remember...

Christopher Scalia: Lessons from the Kavanaugh chaos -- What my father, Justice Antonin Scalia, would have thought I’ve frequently been asked in the past few weeks what my father, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, would think about the contentious battle just waged over Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the nation’s highest court. Would he have been surprised by the heated debate, political maneuvers, protests, last-minute delays and uncorroborated allegations of sexual misconduct that we saw during now-Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation process? Although I don’t think my father (or anyone) could have predicted the twists and turns of the past...

I have become a unicorn. My metamorphosis didn’t require a magic spell or potion, or even a trip to a well-reviewed plastic surgeon to add a horn to my head. All it took was Democrats’ treatment of Brett Kavanaugh over the last few weeks to turn me into that elusive creature: a minority, immigrant woman who supports Republicans. I moved to the United States from Trinidad and Tobago eight years ago when I married my husband, Christopher, former U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia’s eighth (and, in my opinion, most lovable) child. Some people might read that and think, “Well,...

A son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia rejected claims that Brett Kavanaugh lacks the appropriate temperament to serve on the Supreme Court after a contentious hearing with senators Thursday. "It's really not all that rare for justices to get angry," public relations professional Christopher Scalia said during a Fox News interview. "You read some of the dissents, they're mad. They are often called scathing and fiery." Scalia, one of nine children of the late conservative justice, said the context of Kavanaugh's hearing is different than what he would face on the court. "It's true that Justice Kavanaugh...

When news broke out that Brett Kavanaugh was Trump's pick to fill Justice Kennedy's seat, a few critics (including on FR) suggested that he was chosen as a nod to the Bush era and GOP establishment... I am not saying that another pick would have had an easier process nor that Kavanaugh is guilty in the least! But I do wonder if Trump really went with his gut. Sometimes his gut even leads him to side with the establishment, as in the case of the Alabama Senate primary between Luther Strange and Roy Moore. Trump endorsed Luther Strange...but the base...

Once again partisanship is rearing its disgusting head at the pre-confirmation debate over Brett Kavanaugh.  Long gone are the days when a judge’s qualifications were the only factors considered.  After all, Antonin Gregory Scalia was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 1986, and in 1993 Ruth Bader Ginsburg had only three dissenting votes. A play about Scalia, The Originalist, shows how Americans should be willing to accept a viewpoint other than their own, something the Senate is unwilling to do. It is now playing in New York, and is also available to stream.  With all the divisiveness going on...

...sits on the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals,...Willett is said to be an intellectual disciple of Scalia...In his state role, he defended displays of the Ten Commandments on public grounds; property rights in the face of government's use of eminent domain and civil forfeiture; and upholding state limits on the rights of gay and lesbian couples.

During a courtesy call before her confirmation, Justice Elena Kagan responded to a remark by Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, about gun rights. Risch told Kagan she may not realize how important the issue was to most Americans... Kagan said she had never owned or fired a gun. "But I told the senator if I was fortunate enough to be confirmed, I would go hunting with Justice Scalia." Kagan lived up to her word. She has accompanied Scalia to a shooting range and on several hunting trips, she said. “It turns out, it's kind of fun," she added.

Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world. - Antonin Scalia

The late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia was a fan of President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Bryan Garner a friend and now biographer of Scalia told The Wall Street Journal Monday.Garner, a long-time literary collaborator with Scalia and friend, said that the late justice “thought it was most refreshing to have a candidate who was pretty much unfiltered and utterly frank.”He had spent two weeks in 2016 traveling with Justice Scalia through several Asian countries just a week before his death.Garner added that while Scalia liked Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, “he was fascinated by the fact that Trump was so...

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said Monday the high court has adopted much of the late Justice Antonin Scalia's textualist judicial reasoning. Kagan was speaking to an audience at the Chicago-Kent College of Law when she said that Scalia's judicial reasoning has come to dominate the court, the Washington Examiner reported. Scalia, who sat on the Supreme Court for 30 years before his death in 2016, was a proponent of textualism, a theory in which the interpretation of law is based on the meaning of legal text as it would be commonly understood at the time of its passage, and...

I knew the late Justice Antonin Scalia a little, and like millions of others, I was an avid fan of his jurisprudence, the great bulk of which he produced after I was no longer a law student, so much the worse for me. What do I have to do with it? Nothing, except that reading opinions as a law student was often like trying to swallow great bowls of sawdust -- without milk. Very few judges can write well. On the rare occasions when I came across a decision by Learned Hand, I would practically weep with gratitude for his...

Trump came to Arizona. Katie Cornelius went to see him speak. The President was in town; being a historian I've long had a desire to at least see every president I possibly can. Thus far, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush are the only two I've seen...and that was my impetus for getting tickets to see President Donald Trump. Politics. Ohhhhhhh how I love politics. I'm an unabashed Rush baby who admittedly leans very Libertarian. Fiscally I'm conservative, when it comes to judges I favor strict constitutionalist like Antonin Scalia (who is one of the men I've admired most during...

VANITY I watched the very long video in which Scalia spoke of interpreting the U.S. Constitution (Constitution) These are my notes: The due process clause in the Constitution provides that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without “due process”. It does not mean rights are absolute. A fundamental right used to be one that is rooted in the traditions of the American people. Ultimately “fundamental rights” no longer have to be “rooted in tradition”. For example, “abortion” which is now considered to be a fundamental right was not only not rooted in tradition but it was...

Rooted in long centuries of Anglo-American history, the grand jury is mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but not in the body of the Constitution. It has not been textually assigned, therefore, to any of the branches described in the first three Articles. It `is a constitutional fixture in its own right.' In fact, the whole theory of its function is that it belongs to no branch of the institutional Government, serving as a kind of buffer or referee between the Government and the people. Although the grand jury normally operates, in the courthouse and under judicial auspices, its institutional...

Has any Freeper been to see "The Originalist?" If so, what is your recommendation? Is it fair to Scalia?

Paul Scalia was a teenager when his father, the late Antonin Scalia, was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. By then, the younger Scalia had already begun to feel a pull toward the Catholic priesthood. A decade later, he would be ordained at St. Catherine’s, his family’s parish in Great Falls. He has served in the Diocese of Arlington ever since.But following his eloquent homily at his father’s funeral Mass last year, Father Scalia has become more visible. He was recently named vicar for clergy by Arlington’s new bishop, and in March a collection of...

Antonin Scalia responded to questions from committee members about his views regarding such topics as federal-state relationships, the Constitution, death penalty, abortion, national security versus individual rights, original intent, independent agencies versus executive branch agencies, court disciplinary structure, legislative veto, bill history, economic deregulation, affirmative action, committee reports, and executive privilege.

March 24, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — I have been holding my opinion on Neil Gorsuch. From the time he was announced as Trump’s highly lauded Supreme Court nominee and then more information started to come out about him, there have been growing uncomfortable feelings about the nomination. And now, as the confirmation hearings have been underway, I am worried. Despite effusive praise from numerous pro-life and pro-family leaders, this man is NOT, as Trump has repeatedly been told, another Scalia. In my view, the President has been misled – although Gorsuch does have praiseworthy characteristics as a justice and has made...

Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.) questioned the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's understanding of the Constitution on Monday during the confirmation hearing for President Trump's nominee to the high court, Judge Neil Gorsuch. Franken began his line of questioning to Gorsuch by discussing Trump's "litmus test" for his Supreme Court nominee. "In fact, he openly discussed his litmus test. He said that he would ‘appoint judges very much in the mold of Scalia' during the final presidential debate," Franken said. "Then-candidate Trump said, ‘The justices I'm going to appoint will be pro-life. They will have a conservative bent.'" Franken...