Scalia = Asshole

How can someone with obvious prejudices be allowed to continue to sit on the highest court in the land, and still be considered "unbiased" and intrepreting the constitution?

(Washington) A tape of a speech given earlier this month by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has drawn the ire of LGBT civil rights activists who worry the landmark high court ruling on sodomy could be revisited.

Scalia rarely speaks to the media and seldom allows the press into speeches he gives but a recording of a March 8 address at the University of Freiberg in Switzerland was obtained by CNN.

In one portion of the speech to law students at the university Scalia brings up the issue of homosexuality.

"Question comes up: is there a constitutional right to homosexual conduct? Not a hard question for me. It's absolutely clear that nobody ever thought when the Bill of Rights was adopted that it gave a right to homosexual conduct. Homosexual conduct was criminal for 200 years in every state. Easy question."

He also told the students that foreigners waging war against the United States have no rights under the Constitution.

Earlier this month, the governor of South Dakota signed a law that makes it illegal for a woman to have an abortion. It is widely expected that the will be appealed, opening the way for the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v Wade.

A similar scenario could also send sodomy back to the high court.

In 2003, in a 6 - 3 decision, the Supreme Court overturned laws against sodomy, saying that states cannot make laws regarding the private sexual conduct of Americans.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.

"The court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," Scalia wrote for the three. He took the unusual step of reading his dissent from the bench.

"The court has taken sides in the culture war," Scalia said, adding that he has "nothing against homosexuals."

With the high court more conservative than it was three years ago, LGBT leaders are worried the court may reverse itself.

"Justice Scalia stubbornly refuses to see that all Americans have a right to liberty and privacy under the law," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

"Justice Scalia was dangerously out of step with Americans in 2003 when the Supreme Court decided this question and he remains so today.

"This is just the latest example of why it's so critical that fair-minded Americans think of the Court when they head to the ballot box. With the Supreme Court tipping further to the right, these sentiments could one day become reality," said Solmonese.

NY Marriage Law Gets Another Step Closer to Ruling

(New York City) A third case by same-sex couples seeking the right to marry is a step closer to New York's highest court. An appeal was filed in a midlevel court on Tuesday on behalf of the so-called Nyack 10.

Among the 10 couples is Nyack Mayor John Shields and his partner.

In 2004 the couples sought marriage licenses at the Orangetown Town Hall. When they were turned down they sued. A lower court judge dismissed the case saying marriage should be decided by the legislature.

The lawyer for the couples, Norman Siegel, filed papers Tuesday in the Second Appellate Division in Brooklyn. The appeal says that denying same-sex couples the right to marry is violates the state constitution.

Whatever the outcome in the case it is likely to be appealed by one side or the other to the high court - the Court of Appeal - where two other cases involving same-sex couples are already waiting.

The first case will be argued on May 31. That one involves five gay and lesbian couples from Manhattan who were denied marriage licenses in New York City. The couples are represented by Lambda Legal.

Last December an appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that found the ban on gay marriage was illegal. (story)

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed Ling-Cohan's decision and Lambda in turn appealed the appellate decision.

In Lambda's written brief to the high court it states, in part, that, "This appeal is about far more than abstract legal principles. At heart, it concerns real New York families who share the same love and day-to-day journey together through life that binds married couples."

In the second case, the ACLU is representing 12 same-sex couples, among them New York State Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell and his partner John Banta. (story) O'Donnell is the brother of Rosie O'Donnell.

Written arguments were submitted earlier this month and the high court has not yet set a date to hear arguments.

The Court of Appeals could render a decision in the Lambda case first, making moot the other two, or it could wait until it has heard arguments in all three.