I regard it as an axiomatic condition of franchise, in the same manner such that living and breathing are unmentioned self-evident prerequisites to voting. Given the current logic of the court, if a state made breathing a requirement, the court could, using the same arguments, strike that down as well.
SCOTUS decision reflects their view that one absurdity does not deserve another. Separation of powers must be maintained, and Scalia specifically does not want to legislate from the bench.
I "get" the Scalia argument, I'm just saying it has no basis in this particular case. There is much talk about "common law" on these threads, and it appears to me that it is an understood aspect of American common law that the requirement that one be a citizen is, and has always been a requirement to voting in an election.
The enumeration of such a requirement does not infringe or impose on Federal authority, because this is a point which is not subject to Federal authority. It is a characteristic of natural law. It is an existential condition of any government.
It is not his job. Roe v Wade is proof enough of the damage that causes, but there are numerous other examples of that.
Wait until gay marriage comes before the court, and pray that Scalia, and others, are consistent in the idea that legislating is the job of the legislative branch.
The courts have long ago lost their mind AND their moral authority. I now regard it as our duty to denounce and undermine the court system at every opportunity. We need to declare it illegitimate, and heap ridicule upon it.
We should fear it's power, but we should no longer respect it's moral authority. We should regard it as the circus it has become.
Sir, I empathize and agree.
I hate admitting this, but I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, where the very worst thing there could be was a nuclear war, such that DC would be destroyed and the rest of the country left to be invaded by Russians, etc.
Now, I actually believed that if we dropped a nuclear weapon on DC, and preferrably a very large neutron device, something that killed people, but left the buildings standing, then it would be an answer to prayers.
It’s like these guys are stuck in some 1990’s coke-fueled binge. Solyndra - nobody talks about it anymore but it makes the MBS scandal look like small potatoes. A US president handed his political allies a half-billion dollars KNOWING they were going to blow out the business.
It’s one thing to award a contract to an ally with the understanding that the country needed what the ally was selling and that in the end you were helping a friend AND serving a legitimate national interest. Solyndra was just money laundering, and out in the open, and unchecked. Nothing happened.
If Jefferson and Madison were alive today, he’d be looking at us and shouting, “What the f*ck are you waiting for!?! Why aren’t they all dead yet???”