Another Blow to Darwin
June 29, 2008 – 9:47 pmIt’s hard to believe in ‘natural selection’ when the product of 10 generations of American jurisprudence is a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who quotes Bob Dylan in a Court opinion. Granted, it’s better than Breyer citing South African law as precedent, and Roberts is miles ahead of Souter or Thomas, but isn’t this a little unserious? I’m all for having fun – that’s what Spring Break and frat parties are for – but can we expect adults to act like adults when they don black robes? I find this cavalier, and would feel doubly so, if I were the losing party in this case. (That particulars of said case are irrelevant to my point, so I shall ignore them.) The majesty of the law requires sobriety, and the generation now in power is gthe most un-sober in our history. Their casualness in all things, except defense of their right to self-expression, is as evident here as it is anywhere. Bob Dylan, indeed!
2 Responses to “Another Blow to Darwin”
Your slight at South African law seems somewhat laughable itself when considering the fact that the South African constitution seems way ahead of its American counterpart. The Constitutional Court of South African for one had no problem in declaring anti-sodomy laws as unconstitutional (with no minority judgement in the vain of Scalia J) -this nearly a decade before Lawrence v Texas. So do have a look at South African jurisprudence-it might just sober you up!!
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By Stephan van der Merwe on Jul 1, 2008
Stephan,
What slight? The point was that U.S. Law is (or rather should be) based solely on the U.S. Constitution not South African (or any other country’s) law. As to the South African Constitution being “way ahead” of the U.S. Constitution (or any other), that is purely subjective opinion. I’m glad you’re proud of your Constitution. I find the U.S. Constitution to be far superior, but that is my subjective valuation. Holding up constitutional protections of sodomy as something good is something many people world wide would disagree with. When your Constitution is 220 years old, let us revisit this topic
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By Nik on Jul 2, 2008