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Bill scott
SFN Addict
USA
2103 Posts |
 Posted - 03/17/2006 : 08:30:55
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March 15, 2006
BOSTON --U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia railed against the era of the "judge-moralist," saying judges are no better qualified than "Joe Sixpack" to decide moral questions such as abortion and gay marriage.
"Anyone who thinks the country's most prominent lawyers reflect the views of the people needs a reality check,"
The 70-year-old justice said the public, through elected Legislatures -- not the courts -- should decide watershed questions such as the legality of abortion.
Scalia decried his own court's recent overturning of a state anti-sodomy law, joking that he personally believes "sexual orgies eliminate tension and ought to be encouraged," but said a panel of judges is not inherently qualified to determine the morality of such behavior.
He pointed to the granting of voting rights to women in 1920 through a constitutional amendment as the proper way for a democracy to fundamentally change its laws.
"Judicial hegemony" has replaced the public's right to decide important moral questions, he said. Instead, he said, politics has been injected in large doses to the process of nominating and confirming federal judges.
Noting that the Senate confirmed his high court nomination by a 98-0 vote, Scalia said, "You could not get a judge with my views confirmed to the Court of Appeals today."
He said code words such as "mainstream" and "moderate" are now used to describe liberal judicial nominees.
"What is a moderate interpretation of (the Constitution)? Halfway between what it says and halfway between what you want it to say?" he said...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/15/scalia_critical_of/
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"Lets get one thing clear, Bill. Science does make some assumptions." -perrodetokio-
"In the end as skeptics we must realize that there is no real knowledge, there is only what is most reasonable to believe." -Coelacanth-
The fact that humans do science is what causes errors in science. -Dave W.-
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NubiWan
Skeptic Friend
USA
424 Posts |
 Posted - 03/17/2006 : 11:30:20 [Permalink]
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Interesting article BS.
quote:
"What is a moderate interpretation of (the Constitution)? Halfway between what it says and halfway between what you want it to say?" he said...
Uhh.., breached, violated, disdregarded.., ignored., dismissed, that would be my current interpretation of the constitution. Moderate, dunno? |
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Bill scott
SFN Addict
USA
2103 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2006 : 11:48:50 [Permalink]
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quote:
Interesting article BS.
I am sure we all know Judge John Conner:
"For those of you who still believe the justice system in America is working, consider the following. For three years, 46-year old Andrew Selva sexually brutalized two boys, ages 5 and 12, in a small town outside of Columbus, Ohio. In a plea bargain, Selva admitted to the court that he raped the boys in a variety of ways. By all accounts, it was savage criminal activity.
But when Selva appeared for sentencing before Ohio Judge John Connor, he received no prison time at all. Instead, Connor placed him on probation, saying, "He's got a disease like I've got a disease. I don't know that prison would have helped, except for revenge, and revenge is not in the sentencing guidelines."
What the sentencing guidelines did call for was a ten-year stretch in a state prison. But Connor believes he knows better, so it is probation for a child rapist. By the way, the "disease" Connor referenced in his own case is apparently alcohol-related; the judge has at least two DUI convictions on his sheet."
http://billoreilly.com/currentarticle;jsessionid=5D6B352D29A0DB51F79F9F42610E257A
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"Lets get one thing clear, Bill. Science does make some assumptions." -perrodetokio-
"In the end as skeptics we must realize that there is no real knowledge, there is only what is most reasonable to believe." -Coelacanth-
The fact that humans do science is what causes errors in science. -Dave W.-
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2006 : 12:09:53 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally quoted by Bill scott
"For those of you who still believe the justice system in America is working..."
So O'Reilly equates some individual examples of failures of the judicial system with the inability of that same system to function at all. Typical extremist hyperbole.  |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular
Canada
510 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2006 : 13:43:40 [Permalink]
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"Checks and Balances" are needed.
Remember - Adolph Hitler was elected. |
"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King
History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms
"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler
"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson |
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Bill scott
SFN Addict
USA
2103 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2006 : 13:44:41 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
quote:
Originally quoted by Bill scott
"For those of you who still believe the justice system in America is working..."
So O'Reilly equates some individual examples of failures of the judicial system with the inability of that same system to function at all. Typical extremist hyperbole.
This is but one example and really just his exampale of the day, if you pay attention to BO at all. Besides, I think a 46 year old man getting probation for raping little boys, for months on end, gives BO's statment some merit, in my book at least. If child rapists are being given probation I, for one, would want know just what the hell is going on in Ohio? Just one example for the topic of the thread "legislative judges." |
"Lets get one thing clear, Bill. Science does make some assumptions." -perrodetokio-
"In the end as skeptics we must realize that there is no real knowledge, there is only what is most reasonable to believe." -Coelacanth-
The fact that humans do science is what causes errors in science. -Dave W.-
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2006 : 15:56:09 [Permalink]
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If a sentence is considered wrong by parties in the case, doesn't the American justice system grant the right to appeal? Isn't there a "quality control" of the judges?
People screw up sometimes. That's why important functions have redundancies. Like in politics, if we-the-people, citizens of USA, screw up by picking the wrong president (like they did in 2000 and 2004), the world only have to suffer him for a maximum of eight years. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Bill scott
SFN Addict
USA
2103 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2006 : 21:03:52 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
If a sentence is considered wrong by parties in the case, doesn't the American justice system grant the right to appeal? Isn't there a "quality control" of the judges?
People screw up sometimes. That's why important functions have redundancies. Like in politics, if we-the-people, citizens of USA, screw up by picking the wrong president (like they did in 2000 and 2004), the world only have to suffer him for a maximum of eight years.
quote:
If a sentence is considered wrong by parties in the case, doesn't the American justice system grant the right to appeal? Isn't there a "quality control" of the judges?
(bill) This is not about anyone's right to appeal anything. This is about an alcoholic prone Judge who decides to take the law into his own hands and gives probation to an admitted child rapist based on nothing more then his arbitrary opinion! Can you image the victim's parent's state of shock when this “judgment” was rendered down? What a complete slap in the face to the parents and the judicial system. These kids were sodomized for three years and the admitted molester walks? This judge should be striped of his ability to practice law in the civilized universe IMO. And then maybe, just maybe, I would stick in him in a cage with the victim's father, or fathers, and turn my back for 5-10 maybe 15 minutes. It would be tempting…
quote:
People screw up sometimes.
(bill) Ok what part of, “brutalized two boys, ages 5 and 12, for three years, and admitted to the court that he raped the boys in a variety of ways.” do you not understand here? I don't know how they do things in Sweden, but in the US this type of behavior is usually frowned upon.
That's why important functions have redundancies. Like in politics, if we-the-people, citizens of USA, screw up by picking the wrong president (like they did in 2000 and 2004), the world only have to suffer him for a maximum of eight years.
(bill) Ok how you have tied this whole story in with GWB I will never understand?
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"Lets get one thing clear, Bill. Science does make some assumptions." -perrodetokio-
"In the end as skeptics we must realize that there is no real knowledge, there is only what is most reasonable to believe." -Coelacanth-
The fact that humans do science is what causes errors in science. -Dave W.-
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 03/17/2006 : 21:39:33 [Permalink]
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Bill wrote: quote:
(bill) This is not about anyone's right to appeal anything. This is about an alcoholic prone Judge who decides to take the law into his own hands and gives probation to an admitted child rapist based on nothing more then his arbitrary opinion! Can you image the victim's parent's state of shock when this “judgment” was rendered down? What a complete slap in the face to the parents and the judicial system. These kids were sodomized for three years and the admitted molester walks? This judge should be striped of his ability to practice law in the civilized universe IMO. And then maybe, just maybe, I would stick in him in a cage with the victim's father, or fathers, and turn my back for 5-10 maybe 15 minutes. It would be tempting…
I could just as easily present a list of horrible injustices caused by laws made by elected officials and supported by the majority of voting public. Just picking out one example of one fucked up judge does not provide a reason to strip the entire judicial branch of its proper role in the justice system. |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2006 : 16:08:07 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Bill scott
(bill) Ok how you have tied this whole story in with GWB I will never understand?
Because he's fucking your ass and you don't seem to mind it?
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Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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Bill scott
SFN Addict
USA
2103 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2006 : 12:13:34 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.
quote:
Originally quoted by Bill scott
"For those of you who still believe the justice system in America is working..."
So O'Reilly equates some individual examples of failures of the judicial system with the inability of that same system to function at all. Typical extremist hyperbole.
quote:
So O'Reilly equates some individual examples of failures of the judicial system with the inability of that same system to function at all. Typical extremist hyperbole.
Here are a few more, Dave:
- Debra LaFave admits to having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Florida but does not receive prison time. The 25-year-old LaFave was a teacher at the school she seduced the student.
- Andrea Yates murdered her five children by drowning them one by one. A Texas jury found her sane and very guilty. She was sentenced to life in prison. But the conviction was overturned because an expert witness falsely testified about a TV program that had little to do with the crime.
Something is desperately wrong in America. The doctrine of "moral relativism" where judgments are not made about even dastardly behavior is taking root, just as it has in Western Europe. There is nothing "enlightened' about allowing violent criminals to escape punishment; It is flat out dangerous for society.
Selva, Yates, and Lafave are just the beginning. There will be more of these kinds of stories coming. Count on it.
Enlightened justice?
http://billoreilly.com/currentarticle;jsessionid=CA602EDD6A525E75865E10AD3DD78A38
Note to Val, see link above. |
"Lets get one thing clear, Bill. Science does make some assumptions." -perrodetokio-
"In the end as skeptics we must realize that there is no real knowledge, there is only what is most reasonable to believe." -Coelacanth-
The fact that humans do science is what causes errors in science. -Dave W.-
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| Edited by - Bill scott on 03/24/2006 12:38:12 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2006 : 12:35:34 [Permalink]
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quote:
- Debra LaFave admits to having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Florida but does not receive prison time. The 25-year-old LaFave was a teacher at the school she seduced the student.
Wish I'd had a hot teacher like that when I was 14! 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Bill scott
SFN Addict
USA
2103 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2006 : 12:53:21 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
quote:
- Debra LaFave admits to having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Florida but does not receive prison time. The 25-year-old LaFave was a teacher at the school she seduced the student.
Wish I'd had a hot teacher like that when I was 14!
quote:
quote:
The 25-year-old LaFave was a teacher at the school she seduced the student.
Wish I'd had a hot teacher like that when I was 14!
(bill) That was a strange case. She was very good looking and was married to a good looking man. Why she felt she had to go after a 14 year old boy, just entering puberty, I will never understand? She said she was attracted to him because she said she knew it was wrong and that made all the more exciting. Most of the female teachers who have sex with their male students, of late, have not been anywhere close to looking like Ms. LaFave(her husband did divorce her). Most of them, after seeing a pic, you at least can see they had no chance with even a modest looking man their own age. So there you can, at least, see what drove them to prey on children, but Debra was a whole seperate case. |
"Lets get one thing clear, Bill. Science does make some assumptions." -perrodetokio-
"In the end as skeptics we must realize that there is no real knowledge, there is only what is most reasonable to believe." -Coelacanth-
The fact that humans do science is what causes errors in science. -Dave W.-
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
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moakley
SFN Regular
USA
1888 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2006 : 11:07:18 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Bill scott
Andrea Yates murdered her five children by drowning them one by one. A Texas jury found her sane and very guilty. She was sentenced to life in prison. But the conviction was overturned because an expert witness falsely testified about a TV program that had little to do with the crime.
I agree with Bill. Clearly Andrea was quite lucid and sane as we can tell by the following quote.
quote:
Andrea Yates told her jail psychiatrist, "It was the seventh deadly sin. My children weren't righteous. They stumbled because I was evil. The way I was raising them they could never be saved. They were doomed to perish in the fires of hell."
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Life is good
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned. -Anonymous |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2006 : 12:15:14 [Permalink]
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quote:
(bill) That was a strange case. She was very good looking and was married to a good looking man. Why she felt she had to go after a 14 year old boy, just entering puberty, I will never understand? She said she was attracted to him because she said she knew it was wrong and that made all the more exciting. Most of the female teachers who have sex with their male students, of late, have not been anywhere close to looking like Ms. LaFave(her husband did divorce her). Most of them, after seeing a pic, you at least can see they had no chance with even a modest looking man their own age. So there you can, at least, see what drove them to prey on children, but Debra was a whole seperate case.
I can make a pretty good guess as to why. She was horney and if the kid was anything like myself at that age, or most any 14 year old male for that matter, he had a 24/7 hardon.
I will state that she showed such piss-poor judgment that it brings the state of her mental health into doubt. Taken all in though, I think her sentence was pretty fair. She'll certainly never teach again and rightly.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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