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Justice Thomas Slams Liberals in Voucher Opinion
Cornell Law Review ^ | 6/27/02 | Justice Clarence Thomas

Posted on 06/27/2002 11:38:41 AM PDT by frmrda

Here is a portion of Justice Thomas' opinion in teh voucher case that will have liberals blowing a gasket:

While the romanticized ideal of universal public education resonates with the cognoscenti who oppose vouchers, poor urban families just want the best education for their children, who will certainly need it to function in our high-tech and advanced society. As Thomas Sowell noted 30 years ago: “Most black people have faced too many grim, concrete problems to be romantics. They want and need certain tangible results, which can be achieved only by developing certain specific abilities.” Black Education: Myths and Tragedies 228 (1972). The same is true today. An individual’s life prospects increase dramatically with each successfully completed phase of education. For instance, a black high school dropout earns just over $13,500, but with a high school degree the average income is almost $21,000. Blacks with a bachelor’s degree have an average annual income of about $37,500, and $75,500 with a professional degree. See U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States 140 (2001) (Table 218). Staying in school and earning a degree generates real and tangible financial benefits, whereas failure to obtain even a high school degree essentially relegates students to a life of poverty and, all too often, of crime.8 The failure to provide education to poor urban children perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty, dependence, criminality, and alienation that continues for the remainder of their lives. If society cannot end racial discrimination, at least it can arm minorities with the education to defend themselves from some of discrimination’s effects


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: justicethomas; plantationliberals; scotus; scotuslist; supremecourt; thomassowell
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To: frmrda
Thomas may well become a hero to future generations of well-educated black (and white) kids.
41 posted on 06/27/2002 12:37:02 PM PDT by yendu bwam
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To: ikka
About time Thomas Sowell gets noticed more.
I agree ikka 100%. Bright clear insight.
Extraordinary Intellect. Thanks for the post.
42 posted on 06/27/2002 12:42:00 PM PDT by Pompah
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To: Michael.SF.
Leftists are the biggest racists in history. By convincing minorities that they cannot get along without liberal help, they keep em dumb and willing. An educated minority is indeed the biggest threat to the Democrats. I predict the Left will abandon the minorities in favor of the teachers unions. And in turn I'm hoping this will make minorities abandon the Dems in droves.
43 posted on 06/27/2002 12:48:45 PM PDT by goodieD
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To: volchef
What a great man, indeed, always inspiring and a joy to listen to. He too, like President Bush, can so easily be moved to tears while talking of meaningful matters of the heart.
44 posted on 06/27/2002 12:51:32 PM PDT by maranatha
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To: Intolerant in NJ
polls have consistently shown blacks supporting vouchers, sometimes by as much as 65% - should be the new civil rights issue for the 2000's, with conservatives leading the charge for once....

A reason these urban schools have failed is because they have been run by liberal Democrats for generations. This is what must be stressed. The goal should not be to put every poor child in a private school, but for Republicans to take control of school districts in urban areas and to improve them.

If poor children go to private schools and these 65% keep voting Democrat, we would have gained very little. If these polls are accurate, that means Republicans have got the attention of 65% of a group that rarely votes for them. We should make sure vouchers are not the main issue, but rather quality education.

45 posted on 06/27/2002 12:53:13 PM PDT by tenderstone jr.
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To: ppaul
This decision does not bring us any closer to tyrany. The public schools already peddle in "the propogation of opinions" which do not match the beliefs of this taxpayer and many others. Even if this was T. Jefferson's vision of government, that was not put into the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, we will never see a government so limited that it avoids the tyranny of paying for the propogation of opinions.

I'll tell you, the most interesting reading from the Court's decision is Thomas' questioning the application of the phrase "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion . . ." to the states. Unlike "free exercise", a limitation on Congresses' power to "establish[] [] religion" is not a "privelidge or immunity of citizens," nor does it fit equal protection analysis. I think this argument was ignored by the rest of the Court.

46 posted on 06/27/2002 12:54:52 PM PDT by Kaisersrsic
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To: mhking
I'll be honored to be on your list, and I am not black.
47 posted on 06/27/2002 12:56:42 PM PDT by ninenot
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To: frmrda
And I had the pleasure of meeting him, and having his son as a college classmate. What an exemplary person.
48 posted on 06/27/2002 12:58:25 PM PDT by VA_Gentleman
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To: mhking
Thomas writes the best opinions on the court. He deserves to be chief justice.
49 posted on 06/27/2002 12:59:15 PM PDT by aristeides
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To: yendu bwam
God willing, the future will see Thomas as a hero. With a better educated populace, we'll see more respect for our Founders and those who protected their ideals. This will nurture intelligent political discourse, something nearly extinct today.

The Left is reeling, and they are getting desperate, starting to sound loony and frantic. With justice Thomas' help, we are chipping away at the liberal monolith.

50 posted on 06/27/2002 1:02:35 PM PDT by moodyskeptic
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To: The Vast Right Wing
Why this man is not a hero to blacks in America is a mystery to me.

It's our fault (Rightists). We don't know how to market either our ideals or our people.

51 posted on 06/27/2002 1:04:19 PM PDT by rdb3
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To: mhking
Bump. ;^)
52 posted on 06/27/2002 1:05:29 PM PDT by headsonpikes
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To: moodyskeptic
The Left is reeling, and they are getting desperate, starting to sound loony and frantic. With justice Thomas' help, we are chipping away at the liberal monolith.

I admire his intellectual courage more than anything else. Next, I most admire his loyalty to the Constitution.

53 posted on 06/27/2002 1:13:32 PM PDT by yendu bwam
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To: volchef
Bump to that. "The silent justice" is one of the best. Truly using his mind instead of flapping his trap. He must drive people like Je$$e and Rev Al up the wall.
54 posted on 06/27/2002 1:17:45 PM PDT by lawgirl
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To: frmrda
Eloquent words and a strong argument, to be sure, but the decision will lead to tax dollars supporting American Islamic fundamentalist schools.
55 posted on 06/27/2002 1:18:34 PM PDT by omega4412
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To: r9etb
Thomas is certainly correct, but I would hope that his opinion is based on something more Constitutional than this

The supreme court in 1803 ruled that is is the sole judge of what the constitution means. Chief Justice Marshall with no complaint from President Thomas Jefferson said that the court decides what the constitution says and means.

Understand that for 199 years the supreme court has treated as indisputable fact that the constitution is what ever the judges says it is. I'll give you a tiny clue by asking a question. If what is written in the constitution conflicts with what the judges say, who prevails? The constitution for 199 years has been a worthless piece of paper the Judges point to when they agree with it, and ignore when they do not.

Only a fool could believe that we live in a Constitutional Republic. The surpreme court with no objection from the first Democracy Advocate (Democrat) President changed this nation from a Constitutional Republic into a Democracy tempered by Judical Fiat. Democracy Advocates don't like Republics, that is why they call themselves Democrats. If they were for a Republican form of government they would not name themselves after a Democratic form of goverment.

How many times do the judges have to rule the excact opposite of what the words in the Constitution say, before some people figure out the constitution is really what the judges say it is today. Tomorrow they may say something different and then the day after tomorrow something else. What they say then that will be the constitutional law. But until then it means whatever thay last said.

The funny part is, if the constitution meant what it said, anyone could tell you how the court would rule on a constitutional issue. For example if the word abortion or a word that means abortion does not appear in the constitution then the constutution does not control that subject and it is the domain of the states. That is what the words in the constitution say. If it is not in the constitution then it is the states job to legislate or leave the issue unregulated.

But if the judges want to rule on a subject, they do. They find abortion in the penumbra. It is just a way of saying that the constitution is what ever they say it is today. They see it in the penumbra ... even if you can't.

The first step in fixing any problem is to first understand the problem. The problem is this nation has for 199 years been a Democracy tempered by Judicial fiat.

In a Democracy public opinion rules for the present. Tomorrow public opinion may use different rules. To control such a government you must win a majority in every election. To control the judical fiat, you must control who gets to be a judge.

That is the name of the game. It is the only game. People who put their faith in the words of the constitution believe in the tooth fairy too. This nation ceased to be a Constitutional Republic in 1803.

It is in some respects fun to watch the left fool so many people. They tell you in their schools and colleges that this a nation ruled by the base law of a constiution. When that proves to be untrue, time, after time, after time, after time, they tell you it was just a bad judges. But when the law is what ever the judge says it is, there can be no bad judges... unless a judge rules he is bad.

The constitution is whatever the judges say it is.


56 posted on 06/27/2002 1:27:32 PM PDT by Common Tator
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To: mhking
I hope you're right!

Thomas is one magnificent bastard. Love the guy! Make 'im President, fer cryin' out loud.
57 posted on 06/27/2002 1:28:40 PM PDT by Mr. Thorne
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To: r9etb
Where in the Constitution is public education mentioned? I seem to have missed it...
58 posted on 06/27/2002 1:31:07 PM PDT by Paulus Invictus
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To: Paulus Invictus
Where in the Constitution is public education mentioned? I seem to have missed it...

Noplace. Which is why the 10th Amendment allows the states to undertake it if they so wish.

59 posted on 06/27/2002 1:33:30 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: Hacksaw
George I also appointed the only Judge of the three in the 9th Court of Appeals Panel to vote for God in the Pledge!
60 posted on 06/27/2002 1:33:56 PM PDT by Paulus Invictus
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