Tuesday, Jan 4, 2011 20:05 ET
Joan Walsh
The Supreme Court's cranky ideologue
Antonin Scalia says the 14th Amendment protects only black citizens, not women. Oh, and a rich white kid named Bush Video
By Joan Walsh
http://www.salon.com/news/the_supreme_court/index.html?story=/opinion/walsh/politics/2011/01/04/scalia_on_women_and_rightsSupreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia got lots of attention over the last two days for an interview with California Lawyer in which he insists the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, with its promise of "equal protection" for all citizens, doesn't apply to women.
It wouldn't just be women who'd lose their right to equal protection if we took Scalia's view: If we believe the 14th Amendment only existed to give black former slaves as well as free black their full citizenship rights – a long-overdue and worthy goal, by the way -- then it doesn't apply to Jews, Latinos, Asians, or for that matter, black women. I've got to say I'm glad Scalia admits that black men have some rights – I'm a glass half-full kind of person -- but it seems a shame to leave out black women…and the rest of us.
The fundamental problem with Scalia's reasoning -- that "if the current society" thinks women deserve equal protection, we can pass a law to give it to us – is ridiculous. Because what he's also saying is if a future society decided we're not protected, a legislative body could pass a law saying sex discrimination is legal – and women can't appeal to the high court or the Constitution, because the rights guaranteed there don't apply to us.
What's most preposterous is that Scalia was part of the most shameful and flagrantly political use – it was abuse, really -- of the 14th Amendment in Supreme Court history, when he joined the majority in the Bush vs. Gore decision and stopped the Florida recount, brazenly using "equal protection" as one of the cornerstones. The pro-Bush SCOTUS majority argued that the white, wealthy George W. Bush would have his rights violated if if Florida counties used different procedures to recount votes and, in cases of some ballots, divine voter intent. Now, if Scalia really thought the 14th amendment only intended to make former slaves full citizens, he should have applied it to make sure black voters and black votes were treated fairly in Florida (and in fact, we know they were not.) What a joke.