By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral was held Saturday, February 20th, 2016 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Roman Catholic church in North America. We now feature the videography of his funeral service.
Source: Youtube
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I thought I wrote “skewed.”
hski:
If I remember correctly, Gore only wanted high density Democratic areas recounted. If you recount any election region that uses a paper ballot, you will always glean a few more votes. Recounting in heavily Republican areas would have garnered a few more Republican votes, too.
So preferentially choosing Democratic areas to recount would have artificially screwed the result.
I wonder which is better, a simple paper system that does NOT use chads of any kind, hanging or otherwise, or an electronic version. Digital voting can malfunction or be hacked, but they can also be designed to be very user friendly.
Karen – it was the Democrats who selected the machines with the hanging chads.
Rest in peace, Justice Scalia, and thank you for serving your country on the Supreme Court.
Here are some of Scalia’s most famous decisions according to Debbie Lord of Cox Media:
Bush v. Gore – The Court’s 2000 decision which stopped the recount of presidential ballots in Florida – a decision which nudged the election in favor of Bush – was perhaps Scalia’s most famous vote. According to those who knew him, it was a decision he tired of talking about. The Washington Post reported that in later years, Scalia was supposed to have told people who still wanted to talk about the outcome to, “Get over it.” Of the decision he wrote: “The counting of votes that are of questionable legality does in my view threaten irreparable harm to [Bush], and to the country, by casting a cloud upon what he claims to be the legitimacy of his election.
District of Columbia v. Heller – A Second Amendment case in which he wrote the majority opinion, Scalia said in District of Columbia v. Heller that the right to bear arms extends to people, not just the “militia” as the amendment reads. Scalia wrote that the Constitution, “surely elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.”
Lawrence v. Texas – He wrote the dissent in Lawrence v. Texas, a case that struck down a state sodomy law. He warned at the time that the decision would lead to legalization of same-sex marriage. “A system of government that makes the People subordinate to a committee of nine unelected lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy,” he wrote in dissent.
Crawford v. Washington – Scalia wrote for the majority in the case that said “testimonial” statements by witnesses who are not available to speak in court, cannot be used as evidence in court unless the defendant’s lawyer had an opportunity prior to the trial to cross examine that person.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey – Scalia believed there was no constitutional right to an abortion and was outspoken against it. He wrote in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that, “The States may, if they wish, permit abortion on demand, but the Constitution does not require them to do so. The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.”
_________________________________________________________________________________
I disagree with him on Bush vs Gore. We must always make a best efforts to count all votes even if it would have taken months.
I also disagree with Lawarence. The state does not have a right to tell people how and/or who they have consenting sex with. Nor who they contractually marry.
hskiprob – there was a statutory time limit on counting the votes and there was no consistency in how the votes were being counted. Florida was over the time limit. The decision on that was 7-2.
When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke in Bozeman, Mont. earlier this week, he admitted his legal conclusions aren’t always very nice, KXLH News reports.
But Scalia told a group of Republican lawmakers he interprets the Constitution strictly regardless of the results.
“[Sometimes] I have to arrive at results that are stupid and even cruel,” Scalia said.
If nine lawyers in a room discuss whether the Constitution allows abortion or sodomy, for example, the Constitution becomes an ever-evolving, even “living,” document, Scalia said.
These decisions about social issues belong to Congress, the ultimate representation of the will of the people, according to Scalia.
Scalia has made it very clear he thinks the Constitution is “dead, dead, dead.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
Since when was government supposed to determine who and/or how I have sex. Abortion is another issue. “Strickly Constitutional”.
Several presidents have skipped the funerals of SCOTUS justices.
But how many justices have skipped out on the President’s State of the Union addresses? I think the answer is: NONE in recent history. Remind me if you can which liberal justices skipped out on Bush’s SOTU’s?
Scalia also accepted gifts from people who had business before the court. That’s what he was doing in Texas. But of course that’s no quid pro quo according to Roberts because, well, because they had a majority and they like getting stuff, and here’s a big middle finger for judicial ethics y’all.
As I said before, I extend my sympathies to his family for their loss. As for the country, we can now hopefully start undoing all the damage he did to voting rights, separation of church and state, the extension of the corporate state and the undue influence of money in politics. Corporations are not people (persons), and money is not speech.
There’s Obama not attending Scalia’s funeral and then there’s Scalia orchestrating the oligarchy that is destroying America. Yeah, they’re the same thing. The new word that describes people that equate these two occurrences, Trumpists or Trumpeters.
issac – you have to put likes with likes. There is Obama signing the ACA and there is Scalia orchestrating the oligarchy that is destroying America. However, Scalia cannot act on his own, he has to have at least 4 helpers. Obama can work on his own.
Obama was simply returning the favor that Scalia did in the State of the Union speech. Tough. I just wish Obama had the same approach to obstructionists in the GOP. Scalia liked the era when the Catholic Church ran things under the color of “law”. That is not freedom in any sense of the word. Maybe somebody can show me how he defended free speech, and not corporate or religious interests. It is obvious that we do NOT need a Catholic majority on the SCOTUS as we had since they are inclined to vote their religious views rather than anything else.
randyjet – Obama scolded the Supreme Court to their face during the SOTU. Why should Scalia go? Actually, there has never been a requirement that they all go. And then he wants to use that as an excuse? That is just petty.
Scalia was a little man with a big mouth and an even bigger ego. Corporations are not people; money is not speech; and the constitution was not written on a “bible first” basis. He was a poor defender of the constitution and the country will be better off without his homophobia and hate having such a lofty perch.
btw – there is no standard for presidents to attend Supreme funerals – and if Obama did attend the haters would be yelling that Obama made it about himself and should have stayed away.
Bill W – it is my understanding that NO President has missed the funeral of a Supreme Court justice until now.
Sadly Bill W., I believe you are correct. He surely did not do anything to protect the right to petition. I have yet to see some of his other bad decisions, but I know they are there. The right to petition was the first time this issue was ever raised in our nation’s history. We the People, because of the SCOTUS’s inaction, no longer have the right to even ask our government question(s) relating to our laws and expect an answer. What does this say for the facade the professional class and oligarchy puts on to placate the average Citizen in America. We are all complicit in the continued deterioration of the American Way of life.
I’ve asked the IRS Department of the Treasury what Congressional Act gives them their authority and when was it passed using 5 different methods including the right to petition and lawsuit. Not once has anyone from the IRS or Treasury provided the answers to my 62 questions. For those that actually give a crap about what remains of our Constitution and rule of law, the 62 questions are here: http://betweentheheadlines.net/2015/06/21/the-62-questions-only-an-honest-politician-will-answer/ and here: http://www.givemeliberty.org for the full history of the petition and case.
thank you for posting this video
Reblogged this on Scoop Feed.
Renegade, You can’t teach class and haters are classless.
Rest in peace, Justice Scalia.
He was a great man. Loved by many and admired by many more. I hope that his replacement will have some of his wisdom. Remember “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches on your soul”. Although I have grave doubts with this president. If we get another dumbocrat, I might have to leave the country. ☹️ Lighten up people, and get off Richard’s case. This is about a very tolerant man, so show a little bit of tolerance.
Scalia is being promoted by the main stream media as this great protector of our Constitution. Yet others are calling him a shill for the Catholic Church. I know that the SCOTUS refused to hear the Landmark case We The People vs U.S. which ended up usurping the Citizens rights to the Redress of Grievances under Article 1. On three occasions we had simply asked 62 questions relating to the Federal Individual Income Tax in a formal Petition for Redress of Grievances to the IRS Department of the Treasury. After they failed to respond to any of them, we sued in Federal Court in 2006 and lost after the SCOTUS refused to hear the case. We also sent it to the President, then GW Bush and all 535 members of Congress. No one to this day has answered the 62 questions.
I can argue with a slew of arrows in my quiver, that there have been so many unlawful constitutional abrogations such as this one, that our democratic republic should no longer be considered duly constituted. Our Constitution is what created our political body, thus if it is being abrogated from within the body politic to a certain point, then the rule of law, in reality, no longer exists and many of the restrains and the rights that were intended to be protected are no longer.
What is the voting record behind this man and why did he not resign over this particular land mark case? in my opinion, only his resignation would have precluded him from being a party to this case. But did you even hear a peep out of him.
I believe it was the day we formally became a fascist oligarchy. If you cannot even ask questions of your public servants and those who are supposed to be representing us, and expect them to be truthfully answered, we have lost our democratic republic.
Rest in peace Justice Scalia, our champion of the Constitution. I’m sorry the president showed you no respect by not attending you’re funeral.
We will put him out with the rest of the trash in November by electing a president who not only respects the Constitution but respects our borders and American decorum.
We won’t let the democrats turn our country into a socialist state. We will make you proud again and put a justice in there who will have the same American values as you did. God Bless your soul.
What an amazing son, (the Celebrant, of his father’s Mass ) of an amazing man..!
If only, we all could leave the Church in such good hands. Obviously, the fruit of parents who took their job of bringing up great Catholics, seriously.
Really.
Richard…REALLY.???
To commemrorate the mysterious death of the most celebrated member of Opus Dei, I chose to view “Black Mass”, the Hollywood celebration of the major “Mick” of our time: Whitey Bulger. Nino is swimming with the fishes.