Bush's Conservative Judge Harbors Libertarian Streak

NY Times ^ | November 12, 2005 | JONATHAN D. GLATER and ADAM LIPTAK

[KoRn]

Very good!

[apackof2]

libertarian

Not good

[dead]

Boy, I hope so.

[Gondring]

You mean he actually thinks we should respect the Constitution?!? HORRORS! No wonder the NYT is so worried about him!

[cpdiii]

Justice Antonin Scalia may also be considered in this group; his vote was critical in a 1989 case holding that burning the American flag was a form of protected political speech. This one ruling tells you all you need to know about Scalia and Alito. Although they with out any doubt think this is a reprehensible action they also know it it perfectly within the law under our Great Constitution. They do not see the Constitution as a living breathing document except via the mechanism of Constitutional Amendment. Men like this will protect the greatest document of law every written by man. The majority of this great document is limitations on the power of government and defining the many rights of the citizens.

PS: If you sucker punch one of the vermin burning the flag it would be worth the night in jail and the fine.

[OmegaMan]

This is somewhat encouraging, but it really doesn't tell you how expansive his view of free speech is. For instance does he consider porn free speech? It also doesn't tell us how much leeway he would give states to regulate speech.

And the mention of Scalia is worth a laugh. Yeah he was good on flag burning, but Ill bet thats about as far as it goes for him. In fact, just recently he suggested that obscenity laws need to be made more clear. And of course, he was one of the justices that voted against striptease as free speech.

[COEXERJ145]

New York Slimes trying to play divide and conquer.

[ConorMacNessa]

Considering the attack beginning against the First Amendment from the organized forces of Islam, thank God for Sam Alito. I hope he gets confirmed quickly and withour a lot of B/S.

[balch3]

Libertarian = porn legalizing, drug legalizing liberal.

[Sofa King]

"Judge Alito, President Bush's choice for the Supreme Court, has found First Amendment violations in a school board's antiharassment policy, in a ban on liquor advertisements in a college newspaper and in the removal of a boy's drawing of Jesus from a schoolhouse wall."

Bad news for liberals- he seems to be one of those people who has actually read the first amendment.

[CommieCutter]

"New York Slimes trying to play divide and conquer".



You are on it!!!

[ZULU]

"Freedom of expression", like "Separation of Church and Sate" and the right to an abortion, simply do not exist in the COnstitution.

The COnstitution protects the right to free speech and the press.

Burning the American Flag is an act - an act of desecration to an American symbols - and in politics, as in religion, symbols are EXTREMELY important.

[apackof2]

Libertarian: A person with faith in the natural wisdom and restraint of pro wrestling fans

[johnmecainrino]

Alito is more in line with the type of judges we need than Roberts. Alito will be way to the left of scalia and thomas but he won't be a squishy moderate like Roberts and O'Conner was.

[Alberta's Child]

Ping.

[CurlyDave]

Libertarian = porn legalizing, drug legalizing liberal.

Antipathy to drugs and porn is a common trait between some conservatives and all islamics.

Please explain how it hurts you if someone else looks at porn.

Likewise with drugs, much of our crime involves activities intended to get money to pay for drugs. Legal drugs do not mean that you personally have to take them.

[The Phantom FReeper]

The MSM tried this sort of thing with John Roberts, as well.

[supercat]

Libertarian = porn legalizing, drug legalizing liberal.

Given a choice between someone who would leave both porn and political speech legal, or forbid both, I'd much rather have the former.

Further, I would suggest that in the era of the Internet, it would be difficult to really enforce a prohibition against pornography without giving the government far more power than it should safely be allowed to possess.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Judge Alito sided with the mother of a kindergarten pupil whose son's depiction of Jesus was removed from a schoolhouse wall after all students were asked to draw what they were thankful for. The appellate panel of 14 judges did not decide the case on First Amendment grounds, a move strongly criticized by the judge, and sent it back to a lower court.

"Instead of confronting the First Amendment issue that is squarely presented by that incident," Judge Alito wrote, "the court ducks the issue and bases its decision on a spurious procedural ground."

He added: "I would hold that public school students have the right to express religious views in class discussion or in assigned work, provided that their expression falls within the scope of the discussion or the assignment and provided that the school's restriction on expression does not satisfy strict scrutiny."

So far so good. No wonder the NYT is worried.