A Stitch in Haste

Chief Justice Scalia's opinion available here.

In other Scalia news:

Speaking before a packed auditorium at Chapman University, Scalia said he was saddened to see the Supreme Court deciding moral issues not addressed in the Constitution, such as abortion, gay rights and the death penalty. He said such questions should be settled by Congress or state legislatures beholden to the people.

"I am questioning the propriety -- indeed, the sanity -- of having a value-laden decision such as this made for the entire society ... by unelected judges," he said.

As is typical with Scalia, this is nothing but an anti-intellectual cop-out. Abortion, gay rights and the death penalty are not just "moral issues," but issues of due process, equal protection and cruel and unusual punishment, respectively -- all of which are most certainly "addressed in the Constitution."

And I am far more willing to question "the propriety -- indeed the sanity -- of" leaving insular minorities who are often the target of naked bigotry to the whims of majoritarianism rather than to judges. I see nothing "proper or sane" about preferring blind submission to activist legislators, or activist electorates, over our founding principles of limited powers, unenumerated rights and judicial review.