Justice Antonin Scalia said in an interview that legislatures exist to pass laws, not courts, and if the people want to pass laws to discriminate against women or homosexualists, that's fine -- it's NOT unconstitutional.
For background, read Justice Antonin Scalia vs. Judicial Activism
UPDATE 6/29/13: Scalia Slams Supreme Court Majority for DOMA Ruling
UPDATE 10/6/12: Justice Scalia Says Abortion, Homosexuality Easy Cases
UPDATE 1/7/11: Feminists, other liberals, say Scalia is reason to pass Equal Rights Amendment
-- From "Scalia: Constitution Doesn't Protect Women or Gays from Discrimination" by Stephanie Condon, CBS News 1/4/11
Scalia's remarks has spurred criticism from liberals and from some law scholars, though he has expressed this point of view before.
Scalia was specifically referencing the 14th Amendment, which states: "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Marcia Greenberger, founder and co-president of the National Women's Law Center, told the Huffington Post that Scalia's most recent remarks were "shocking in light of the decades of precedents and the numbers of justices who have agreed that there is protection in the 14th Amendment against sex discrimination, and struck down many, many laws in many, many areas on the basis of that protection."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Scalia: Constitution allows discrimination based on sex" by Bob Unruh © 2011 WorldNetDaily 1/4/11
Asked about the debate in 1868 when Congress was considering the 14th Amendment regarding equal protection – and how that applies today to sex discrimination and discrimination based on sexual orientation, he suggested it's error to apply that standard.
The comments in the interview, recorded some weeks ago but just posted recently, run contrary to a number of recent court rulings on highly controversial topics, including a ruling from a homosexual federal judge in California who recently said voters' definition there in their own state constitution of marriage as being between one man and one woman only was unconstitutional. That ruling remains on appeal.
The interview, of which a video has been posted online, ranged over a broad spectrum of topics for nearly 90 minutes.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Excerpt from interview with Justice Scalia, posted at California Lawyer (January 2011)
[UC Hastings law professor Calvin Massey asked,] "In 1868, when the 39th Congress was debating and ultimately proposing the 14th Amendment, I don't think anybody would have thought that equal protection applied to sex discrimination, or certainly not to sexual orientation. So does that mean that we've gone off in error by applying the 14th Amendment to both?"
[Justice Scalia answered,] "Yes, yes. Sorry, to tell you that. ... But, you know, if indeed the current society has come to different views, that's fine. You do not need the Constitution to reflect the wishes of the current society. Certainly the Constitution does not require discrimination on the basis of sex. The only issue is whether it prohibits it. It doesn't. Nobody ever thought that that's what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that. If the current society wants to outlaw discrimination by sex, hey we have things called legislatures, and they enact things called laws. You don't need a constitution to keep things up-to-date. All you need is a legislature and a ballot box. You don't like the death penalty anymore, that's fine. You want a right to abortion? There's nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn't mean you cannot prohibit it. Persuade your fellow citizens it's a good idea and pass a law. That's what democracy is all about. It's not about nine superannuated judges who have been there too long, imposing these demands on society."
To read more of the interview, and for a link to the video, CLICK HERE.
