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Aug. 30th, 2005 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmer(this should probably go to my longhairedweirdo blog, but right now I'm too tired to remember to put it there.)
Okay, I've seen Scalia ranting about stuff, unelected judges making decisions that should be made by the Congress or the states.
Now, Mr. Scalia, I realize I'm not a big, fancy-pants lawyer or anything like that, but, see, the preamble to the Constitution says that "we, the people... do ordain and establish". Not "we, the government", because, see, that's what this country was founded on: the notion that government exists to serve the people, and derive their authority from the people.
See, the people are the boss, you dig? The law exists to serve *us*... the people. We don't exist to serve the government; the government exists to serve us.
That means that, unless there's a compelling interest *FOR THE PEOPLE*, the government has no right to make certain laws, or do certain things.
Many of those decisions about abortion, gay rights, were not about unelected judges usurping the rights of the Congress or the states, but of *asserting* the rights of the people.
Exempli Gratia: Roe Vs. Wade. The people have a right to make medical decisions until the state has a compelling interest in the personhood of the developing fetus. Even then, the people have a right to make decisions to safeguard their own health. The states don't have a right to tell people not to have abortions until there's another person involved; the states don't have a right to put people's health at risk. That's because the states and the federal government exist to serve "We, the people".
You don't like the decision? Hey, cool, don't like it. But don't pull some bullcrap about how it's subverting the rights of the legislatures, because the legislatures don't have *any* rights that don't derive from "We, The People". Find an actual, honest-to-goodness compelling interest that gives the state a right to dictate rules about abortion, and suggest the legislatures use that to enact laws. Until you do, stop whining, and deal with the laws you're supposed to judge.
Okay, I've seen Scalia ranting about stuff, unelected judges making decisions that should be made by the Congress or the states.
Now, Mr. Scalia, I realize I'm not a big, fancy-pants lawyer or anything like that, but, see, the preamble to the Constitution says that "we, the people... do ordain and establish". Not "we, the government", because, see, that's what this country was founded on: the notion that government exists to serve the people, and derive their authority from the people.
See, the people are the boss, you dig? The law exists to serve *us*... the people. We don't exist to serve the government; the government exists to serve us.
That means that, unless there's a compelling interest *FOR THE PEOPLE*, the government has no right to make certain laws, or do certain things.
Many of those decisions about abortion, gay rights, were not about unelected judges usurping the rights of the Congress or the states, but of *asserting* the rights of the people.
Exempli Gratia: Roe Vs. Wade. The people have a right to make medical decisions until the state has a compelling interest in the personhood of the developing fetus. Even then, the people have a right to make decisions to safeguard their own health. The states don't have a right to tell people not to have abortions until there's another person involved; the states don't have a right to put people's health at risk. That's because the states and the federal government exist to serve "We, the people".
You don't like the decision? Hey, cool, don't like it. But don't pull some bullcrap about how it's subverting the rights of the legislatures, because the legislatures don't have *any* rights that don't derive from "We, The People". Find an actual, honest-to-goodness compelling interest that gives the state a right to dictate rules about abortion, and suggest the legislatures use that to enact laws. Until you do, stop whining, and deal with the laws you're supposed to judge.
