Justice Alito enjoying his newfound job security

[drone]

Surprised no one has brought this up yet, must be too early in the day for us Yanks.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/01/alito/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In his first day on the job, Justice Samuel Alito broke ranks Wednesday night with the Supreme Court's conservatives by refusing to allow Missouri to execute death-row inmate Michael Taylor.

Putting on the robes must be like winning the lottery, you only have to answer to yourself.

[Vladimir]

The convict must have been an anti-woman anti-abortion activist in league with the devil. It's all a part of the right wing cabal.

[Xiahou]

I don't see what the big deal is.

[IrishMike]

Oh well, we'll see what he turns out doing. Personally, and this is in no way a slam to gay people at all, I think he acts gay. If true, he couldn't be to conservative. Just an observation from his public appearances though.

[drone]

There is already radio talk about this, mainly because it comes a week after this:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/01/24/hi...cnn_topstories

There are rumors that the SC will impose a moratorium on executions until this gets settled out. We may be a step closer to the abolishment of the death penalty here in the US. The fact that it may come from a GOP stacked bench with an ex-Texas governor as president seems a little strange.

[Don Corleone]

I'm anti-death penalty, but basing it on 'cruel and unusual' reasoning is shaky ground. As the pro-death-penalty advocates always hit me with... why is executing somebody cruel, yet locking them in a cage for the rest of their life not? The ACLU already has a bunch of lawsuits out there claiming incarceration is 'cruel and unusual', so this will just add fuel to the fire.

Just out curiouisty, other than Jag, who's been sadly absent (and strangely, missed by me) is there anybody out there that's anti-incarceration?

[Redleg]

Just out curiouisty, other than Jag, who's been sadly absent (and strangely, missed by me) is there anybody out there that's anti-incarceration?

I believe Soulforged leans in that direction. He does seem to believe that the individual must still be held accountable for his actions, just that incarceration doesn't seem to be the solution he advocates.

[Kanamori]

If true, he couldn't be to conservative

I actually know quite a few Republicans who are gay. I don't see at all how they are not compatible. Is every conservative, categorically, "against" gay people?

Putting on the robes must be like winning the lottery, you only have to answer to yourself.

Where's the argument against this decision? My very strong suspicion is that it is more about proceedings than it is about rightness or wrongness of the death penalty.

[Don Corleone]

It's exactly what Alito said he would do when facing the Senate, and Charles Schummer and Ted Kennedy now owe him an apology. He said he would rule on each and every case by it's own merits on the technical aspects of the law as it applied to the particular case in front of him. He didn't strike down the death penalty as his first act in office, he upheld a stay until the legal issues can be resolved. I, for one, am glad to see a judicial, not a political, conservative on the bench and look forward to more of the same... when it goes for my views and when it goes against them.

[Kanamori]

Whenever a justice rules contrarily to how I think they would, my eyebrows raise and I feel compelled to read their judgement. It's like a little header that they actually believe what they're saying...

[Ice]

for one, am glad to see a judicial, not a political, conservative on the bench and look forward to more of the same... when it goes for my views and when it goes against them.

Likewise.

[Papewaio]

It could be a strategic move. Ban the death penaly for reasons XYZ. Then use the same reasons XYZ as precedent for banning abortion.

As long as they can make the reasons apply to both it would be coup of sorts.

[ICantSpellDawg]

i am not anti-capital punishment, but i am not a completely convinced proponent either. i do not get upset when people vote against it for various reasons.

It could be a strategic move. Ban the death penaly for reasons XYZ. Then use the same reasons XYZ as precedent for banning abortion.

As long as they can make the reasons apply to both it would be coup of sorts.

god i hope so.

i must admit that this is the main reason that i voted for bush.

i would much rather see the court strike down abortion for convenience and allow a re-do of the current state-by-state or federal abortion laws.

[rory_20_uk]

Is that because of the American take on abortion is (as far as I am aware) "you can abort basically right up until birth itself" - something I would be against.

Banning all types of abortion often ends up with amateurs performing them, and whilst usually successful can have the side effect that the woman dies.

I am never clear on "anti death penalty" is it because no one has the right to take a life? I always feel that persons that perform those crimes loose the right to live.

[BDC]

Just out curiouisty, other than Jag, who's been sadly absent (and strangely, missed by me) is there anybody out there that's anti-incarceration?

I believe in rehabilitation rather than a punishment... Everyone is judged by God (or whoever, themselves hopefully) anyway so why spend a fortune keeping someone who won't commit another crime in prison?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Is that because of the American take on abortion is (as far as I am aware) "you can abort basically right up until birth itself" - something I would be against.

Banning all types of abortion often ends up with amateurs performing them, and whilst usually successful can have the side effect that the woman dies.

I am never clear on "anti death penalty" is it because no one has the right to take a life? I always feel that persons that perform those crimes loose the right to live.

The anti-death penalty crowd tends to view the taking of life, even under judicial sanction, as wrong. One can debate its "cruelty" until blue in the face without a definitive answer, but to argue that it is an "unusual" punishment would be to fly in the face of 4+ millenia of human history. I believe that the state should err on the side of life, but that doesn't mean that any demonstrated threat to the community should see the light of day again save over the barb-wire covered walls.

Please note that, even if the Roe v Wade decision is overturned, this would simply return the choice to allow abortion (or not) to the several states. This would be correct, in my opinion, as I have never agreed with the argument that abortion is an extension of the privacy protections implicit in the 4th ammendment and therefore believe that this issue should be reserved to the states under the 10th ammendment.