Justice Scalia Cites Pro-Slavery Laws Excluding ‘Freed Blacks’ To Justify His Anti-Immigrant Opinion

[kpete]

Justice Scalia Cites Pro-Slavery Laws Excluding ‘Freed Blacks’ To Justify His Anti-Immigrant Opinion
By Ian Millhiser on Jun 26, 2012 at 9:00 am

As ThinkProgress reported yesterday, conservative Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissenting opinion claiming that Arizona’s entire harsh immigration law should be upheld sacrifices both factual and mathematical accuracy in order to attack one of the Obama Administrations recently announced policies. Perhaps the oddest part of Scalia’s dissent, however, is the fact that he actually relied on pro-slavery laws excluding free persons of African descent from much of the south to justify allowing Arizona to target undocumented immigrants:

Notwithstanding “the myth of an era of unrestricted immigration” in the first 100 years of the Republic, the States enacted numerous laws restricting the immigration of certain classes of aliens, including convicted crimi­nals, indigents, persons with contagious diseases, and (in Southern States) freed blacks. State laws not only provided for the removal of unwanted immigrants but also imposed penalties on unlawfully present aliens and those who aided their immigration

This kind of thing is, sadly, common in Scalia’s opinions. He’s defended torture and finds little wrong with executing the innocent. When a majority of his colleagues reached the radical conclusion that people have a right to choose their own sex partners, Scalia railed against them for embracing the “homosexual agenda.” During oral arguments over the Affordable Care Act, Scalia seemed unable to distinguish legal arguments from partisan talking points.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/06/26/506191/justice-scalia-cites-pro-slavery-laws-excluding-freed-blacks-to-justify-his-anti-immigrant-opinion/

[liberalmuse]

1. Scalia is a scab on the USSC...

a stain. An atrocity.

[Quantess]

2. That's kind of depressing.

How would that feel to be a black american, knowing that this asshole is stubbornly on your Supreme Court and won't leave for years? I can only imagine.

[freshwest]

7. I've always felt that way. Talk about a failure of empathy.

[Quantess]

13. What a slap in the face to black people.

For someone in such an important role in government to go on record and write that in his decision, in 2012, is such an insult. IMHO

[aquart]

3. What recourse do we have with a senile Supreme?

How does this opinion compare to others he has written? Was he always this incompetent?

[Ship of Fools]

4. "...unable to distinguish legal arguments from partisan talking points."

Wow. Well said!

If that doesn't make the case that this guy is absolutely unqualified
to be on the SCOTUS, what will???? Good luck with our dreams of
impeachment...Congress would never stand for it.

[freshwest]

6. Like a number of other GOP officials, he is unable to distinquish between FOX news screeds, National

Inquirer type grocery store rags and the laws of the land. He just goes with whatever promotes aristocracy. He and Thomas are two peas in the same pod, no idea of ethics or the impact of his actions.

[chase48]

11. two peas in a pod

add Hitler to that pod, again, we need a one way ticket from this earth for those two to another planet before Obama leaves office

[BlueIris]

5. This man is a stain on the nation.

I don't drink, but I will be tempted to open a case of champagne when he retires.

[mysuzuki2]

8. Those laws were made unconstitutional by

amendments after the civil war. Is Scalia aware of the 13th and 14th amendments? Or does he just refuse to acknowledge any social and legal progress taking place in the last 150 years? His citing of these antebellum laws is too bizarre for words.

[chase48]

9. Scalia, Koch bros water boy

when he gave the presidency to GeorgeW, an illiterate, should have been a flag that he belongs in a nursing home, when he and his buddies took away those voters rights in Fl, they committed a felony crime, those five GOP pricks and Hitler would been really good pals, depriving the right to vote

[LiberalFighter]

10. Scalia is not the only one that needs to be tied with outdated opinions.

The law clerks that do the research and write the opinions for Scalia need to be hazed too.

[chase48]

12. working class, poor, seniors, in a world of shit

Those Justices and Citizens United will buy every congressional seat in Nov , all rich minorities, athlets, professionals and don't know what to do with your money, invest it for your interests, for democrates running for office because repug's don't have any empthy for working class and the down and out, they want to do away with food stamps, let 'em starve, get sick, let'em die said Ron Paul, every republican voted for the Ryan plan,for us seniors that means attacking Medicare and SS, women's planned parenthood, the want to cut the deficet while cutting taxes for the rich, they will do that and those five Justices from hell are helping

[jtaylor1]

14. Justice Antonin Scalia: Apologize For Using Slavery as Legal Precedent for Arizona Immigration Laws

Please sign our petition at Change.org about this issue:

http://www.change.org/petitions/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-apologize-for-using-slavery-as-legal-precedent-for-arizona-immigration-laws?utm_source=guides&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=day_five_email