question re: Scalia

[oustemnow]

Hey all. I'm trying to track down a completely nuts quote from Fat Tony in response to, I believe, Texas' sodomy law being striken down. I'm pretty fuzzy on the details, but he was speculating what kind of devastating effect this would have on the nation, and his postulations were ludicrous. Any help?

[northernsoul]

1. looking it up on Westlaw right now

back with a quote in a minute

[Jacobin]

2. My "favorite" Scalia quote is my sig line.

Yes. He really did say that.

[northernsoul]

3. here's a small part of his dissent from Lawrence v. Texas

<snip>
The Texas statute undeniably seeks to further the belief of its citizens that certain forms of sexual behavior are "immoral and unacceptable," Bowers, supra, at 196, 106 S.Ct. 2841--the same interest furthered by criminal laws against fornication, bigamy, adultery, adult incest, bestiality, and obscenity . Bowers held that this was a legitimate state interest. The Court today reaches the opposite conclusion. The Texas statute, it says, "furthers no legitimate state interest which can justify its intrusion into the personal and private life of the individual," ante, at 2484 (emphasis addded). The Court embraces instead Justice STEVENS' declaration in his Bowers dissent, that "the fact that the governing majority in a State has traditionally viewed a particular practice as immoral is not a sufficient reason for upholding a law prohibiting the practice," ante, at 2483. This effectively decrees the end of all morals legislation. If, as the Court asserts, the promotion of majoritarian sexual morality is not even a legitimate state interest, none of the above-mentioned laws can survive rational-basis review.
</snip>

you can probably find the entire dissent somewhere online, I'll warn you that it's not very good reading (although Fat Tony, for all his flaws, is actually a better legal writer than many other justices)

[northernsoul]

5. here's another goodie from that dissenting opinion

<snip>
Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children's schools, or as boarders in their home. They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive.
</snip>

although, it probably is factually true that "many Americans" do feel that way - that's hardly a good rationale for encoding bigotry into our laws

[seabeyond]

4. dead constitution

is what pisses me off with scalia. only white males and we had beter damn well like it

totally in my words, lol