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This article is a little different from my usual posts, but it's very enlightening. It does a good job explaining some of the politics of the Supreme Court and the Democratic Party, while documenting the psychopathic nature of one its most famous, and most liberal, justices. William O. Douglas was a:

1. Pathological liar.
2. Placed ambition above all else.
3. Continuous womanizer.
4. Abusive employer.
5. Totally uninterested in the law.
6. Wrote decisions without any reference to precedent, law, arguments, ANYTHING except his own opinion.

This is the man who wrote the Griswold vs Connecticut decision which laid the groundwork for Roe vs Wade (in which he concurred but did not write the decision). It was Douglas' creation out of thin air of a "right to privacy" which provided a legal precedent for Roe.

BTW, it's useful to know that Posner is now the leading proponent of the "realist" school of constitutional interpretation in order to understand why he focuses so much on that issue in the article, and why Posner seems to maintain a sneaking respect for Douglas despite his willingness to admit the truth of everything said against him.

"right to privacy" is a legal fiction and has nothing to do with the Constitution. In no way should a series of laws be created from the bench backed by a fictional right. It is a very idealistic vision that American are intitled a certain freedom that shields them for murderious and teasonous acts.

People like Douglas are responsible for the no standards lifestyle that is so prevalent in this country. Its no wonder out prisons are full. (Rant-rant)

1. Pathological liar.
2. Placed ambition above all else.
3. Continuous womanizer.
4. Abusive employer.
5. Totally uninterested in the law.

Now that reminds me of another disfunctional person...
what was his name? ... what was his name?

I'll be interested (but none too surprised, I suspect) to see what Posner has to say about "Pragamatism and Democracy".

Interesting quandary, that ... "pragmatists" voting on Virtue.

I think that the opposite is more likely, and that the tragedy of Douglas was not that he was a warped human being, or that Roosevelt passed him over for the vice presidential nomination, but that for reasons of temperament--and because the great prize of the presidency seemed for a while within reach--he could not buckle down and commit himself wholeheartedly to the Court and become the greatest of the legal realists.

Thank God for large favors. Sounds like Posner actually admires the evil creature. Amazing. And why, exactly, do so many of these lefty scribblers consider the presidency a "great prize"? My wife - yes. The presidency - you've got to be kidding.

Apart from being a flagrant liar, Douglas was a compulsive womanizer, a heavy drinker, a terrible husband to each of his four wives, a terrible father to his two children, and a bored, distracted, uncollegial, irresponsible, and at times unethical Supreme Court justice who regularly left the Court for his summer vacation weeks before the term ended.

And he wrote the Griswold decision? I should have known. Sounds like artificial birth control played an important role in his life. Maybe he should have recused himself.