The just-completed Supreme Court term was a bad one for conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. He came out on the losing end of arguably the 4 biggest cases. He was on the losing side on the Obamacare, Ariz.immigration law enforcement, stolen valor (First Amendment) and prison sentencing for crack cocaine offenders (federal sentencing guidelines) and juvenile killers (8th Amend. cruel and unusual punishment).
This article criticizes Scalia for being too "political." Of course 7 of the other Justices are also political. (Kennedy may be the exception). Scalia used to be one of my favorites, but his First Amendment stand on the stolen valor case and his lack of concern for Fourth Amendment rights and the exclusionary rule, have dampened my enthusiasm. Some of his conclusions in those cases are "stretches" Of course everyone who loves freedom owes him great debts for his support for First Amendment rights in Citizens United and Westoboro Baptist Church cases and for Second Amendment rights in Heller and McDonald. It is Scalia's outspokenness that has caused concern. One left-wing ideologue in the media called for Scalia to resign. IMHO he is the most intelligent, wittiest and sharpest mind on the Court. Hopefully after he retires he won't demonstrate a lack of class, self-respect and integrity like former Justice Stevens, and get on every the TV and attack the Court for the cases he lost. One sore loser among ex-Justices is enough.
Corrected the post. The crack cocaine sentencing case did not involve the 8th Amend. It was a federal sentencing guidelines case. I apologize for the ambiguity.
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