Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Thomas: Court precedent isn't sacred
wnd.com ^ | 4/21/2020 | WND staff

Posted on 04/23/2020 7:26:20 AM PDT by rktman

Two U.S. Supreme Court justices this week challenged "erroneous precents" the court has used in some of its rulings, including the Roe v. Wade decision that created a right to abortion.

Even the author of the majority opinion in Roe, Harry Blackmun, admitted the ruling was on shaky ground. He warned that if the "personhood" of the unborn were to be established, their right to life would then be guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.

Since the 1973 ruling, abortion rights have been upheld several times by stare decisis, the legal doctrine that obligates courts to follow historical cases.

But the Washington Examiner reported President Trump's nominees, Associate Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, took to task the court's "strict adherence to precedent" in a ruling this week.

(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: bor; constitution; judiciary; politicaljudiciary; scotus; supremecourt; supremes
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-84 next last
Constitutional? Meh. According to 'some', words don't mean what they indicate. Mere guidelines. Right? Probably the money mill, PPH, has slightly raised BP upon seeing this commentary?
1 posted on 04/23/2020 7:26:20 AM PDT by rktman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: rktman

If stare decisis were strictly adhered to, we would still have slavery (Dred Scott decision).


2 posted on 04/23/2020 7:30:23 AM PDT by NTHockey (My rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Why defeating any conservative POTUS that will be picking the next 2 SCOTUS justices for a 3-generation minimum effect. All the hate and slander at PDJT is all and only about SCOTUS.


3 posted on 04/23/2020 7:33:28 AM PDT by USCG SimTech
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rktman

I understand the arguments for following precedent, but they must always be secondary to Constitutional arguments.


4 posted on 04/23/2020 7:35:54 AM PDT by rightwingcrazy (;-,)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

The USSC has overturned itself before. See for example Slaughterhouse case. That forced the court to rule and impose each of the Bill of Rights onto the States. The 2nd Amendment wasn’t technically incorporated until the last few years.


5 posted on 04/23/2020 7:36:25 AM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

Of course precedent isn’t sacred. Precedent is subject to the U.S. Constitution as written and originally understood and intended. If precedent is unconstitutional then precedent must be overturned.

The Court from around 1900 blithely and consistently overturned Court precedent of the 1800’s. Generally, with some glaring exceptions, Court rulings in the 1800’s were constitutional. Beginning in the 1900’s, the Court began going off the constitutional rails, again, blatantly overturning precedent without a hardly peep from anyone.

Time to overturn the unconstitutional decisions of the Court which themselves defied earlier precedent.


6 posted on 04/23/2020 7:37:06 AM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

It’s part of what I like about these two men - deciding cases on older ‘precedents” is just a lazy Justice’s way of saying,
“no justice for you”.


7 posted on 04/23/2020 7:37:27 AM PDT by trebb (Don't howl about illegal leeches, or Trump in general, while not donating to FR - it's hypocritical.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

Roe V Wade was THE Dred Scott decision of my lifetime... It is wholesale invented right, and judicial over reach, it is ABSOLUTELY WRONG AND UNJUSTIFIABLE BY ANY LEGAL MEANS...

A liberal court wanted to make it legal, so it just declared it so... defying all legality and completely overstepping their authority.

It is WRONG, on every level WRONG, and should be vacated.


8 posted on 04/23/2020 7:39:22 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NTHockey

The Left just loves Brown v Board of Education — which overturned a previous decision, Plessy v Ferguson.

Roe v Wade is ripe for overturning.


9 posted on 04/23/2020 7:39:48 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rktman

This gets at the fundamental error that liberals make about “conservatism” on the bench. The dumb ones don’t get it, the smart ones are just dishonest. Conservative jurisprudence might feel the need to actually justify overturning precedent with actual legal reasoning and an eye toward what a decision will lead to (unlike liberal jurisprudence), but that doesn’t mean that conservatives have ever stood for the idea that precedent cannot be overturned. It all boils down to this from liberals:

“Roe v. Wade is precedent and conservatives say you can’t ever overturn precedent so nyah nyah nyah Abortion Forever!”

That is literally how stupid and dishonest these people are. That is the “reasoning” of every feminist law professor. It’s the whole game. Do not ever think that you can have an honest discussion with people who are this dishonest and/or dumb.


10 posted on 04/23/2020 7:40:26 AM PDT by cdcdawg ("Americanism, not Globalism, will be our credo." DJT 2016)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NTHockey

Still plenty of inhabitants on the ‘plantation’ anyway.


11 posted on 04/23/2020 7:40:44 AM PDT by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rktman
According to leftists, the constitution can be changed on the whims of five judges on the SCOTUS.

Also, according to leftists, the whims of five judges on the SCOTUS are sacred and can never be overturned (if it's favorable to a leftist position, that is. Precedent in involving gun rights can be tossed out no problem).

12 posted on 04/23/2020 7:41:32 AM PDT by pepsi_junkie (Often wrong, but never in doubt!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NTHockey

If stare decisis were strictly adhered to, we would still have slavery (Dred Scott decision).


I actually came here to post that exact point, but you beat me to it.


13 posted on 04/23/2020 7:41:55 AM PDT by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rktman

It is well known that the Court is inconsistent over time. No decision it makes is reliable over the long run. It might last 100 years, but that’s about it.


14 posted on 04/23/2020 7:44:11 AM PDT by Cboldt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

2000+ years of tradition destroyed by the courts with gay marriage!


15 posted on 04/23/2020 7:44:36 AM PDT by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rktman

Well, if it was, blacks would still be considered property.


16 posted on 04/23/2020 7:44:59 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with islamic terrorists - they want to die for allah and we want to kill them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NTHockey

Dred Scot has still not been reveresed by the Court. Congress over-rode Dred Scot with the 14th amendment.


17 posted on 04/23/2020 7:45:03 AM PDT by Cboldt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: monkeyshine
Dred Scott was precedent. Should that have been permanently enshrined?

And the answer to that tells you how sacred we should consider the whims of a majority of SCOTUS justices on a particular day.

18 posted on 04/23/2020 7:45:07 AM PDT by pepsi_junkie (Often wrong, but never in doubt!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: 2banana

That’s how the progressives view them.


19 posted on 04/23/2020 7:46:30 AM PDT by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: HamiltonJay

I refer to this sort of case as the Court literally hallucinating some legal principle into existence, on their own power.

And then Congress endorses the decision by inaction, and later by labeling the decision “super precedent,” whatever that means.

Oh well. It’s their legitimacy at stake, not mine.


20 posted on 04/23/2020 7:47:22 AM PDT by Cboldt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-84 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson