Quote Of The Day: Scalia On The Dictatorship Of A Shifting Supreme Court Majority

“What distinguishes the rule of law from the dictatorship of a shifting Supreme Court majority is the absolutely indispensable requirement that judicial opinions be grounded in consistently applied principle. That is what prevents judges from ruling now this way, now that thumbs up or thumbs down as their personal preferences dictate. Today’s opinion forthrightly (or actually, somewhat less than forthrightly) admits that it does not rest upon consistently applied principle.” — From Antonin Scalia’s dissent in the Kentucky 10 Commandments Case

If you want to know why the fight over judges has gotten so intense in recent years, you need look no further than this quote by Scalia.

Conservatives want to live under the “rule of law” and liberals want to live under “The dictatorship of a shifting Supreme Court majority” because they believe (with good reason) that activist liberal judges will impose by fiat much of the agenda that the left can’t convince the American people to vote for.

To liberals, this is a beautiful thing. Heads, the American people vote for liberal policies or tails, the nearly uncheckable Supreme Court just imposes those policies on the people under whatever flimsy pretext the justices see fit to use.

That’s why it is of the highest priority to get more conservative, originalist justices like Rehnquist, Scalia, & Thomas on the Supreme Court. Their respect for their constitutionally proscribed role is the best protection we have against abuse of power by the SCOTUS.

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