The URL for Sandy's piece in the Village Voice is
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0327/levinson.php
An excerpt:
"All of the justices are more than happy to push their visions of what
would 'establish Justice' and bring about a 'more perfect Union,' however
much they disagree about the particulars. In recent years, conservatives
have generally prevailed; last week, the stars were aligned for a series
of liberal decisions (written by members of the generally conservative
majority). The common motif, though, is a highly self-confident group of
judges unafraid to exercise their power."
Consider the chart below of the position of the justices in Grutter and
Lawrence. It illustrates that Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer,
and O'Connor find affirmative action constitutional and laws against same
sex sodomy unconstitutional, while Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas
take the opposite positions, finding affirmative action unconstitutional
and same sex sodomy law constitutional.
Justice Kennedy stands alone, the only justice to find both the law
school's affirmative action program and the Texas same sex sodomy law
unconstitutional.
If Sandy is right that
"neither side truly wishes a judiciary that is restrained across the
board" then both sides have succeeded. Not a single justice concludes
that both affirmative action and laws against same sex sodomy are
consistent with the 14th amendment; not a single justice finds that both
are for determination through democratic politics. The tradition
represented by those such as Justice White -- who both wrote Bowers and
joined Justice Brennan's opinion in Bakke -- is nowhere to be seen.
SS Sodomy Laws constitutional
SS Sodomy Laws
unconstitutional
AA constitutional
Stevens
Souter
Ginsburg
Breyer
O'Connor
AA unconstitutional
Rehnquist
Scalia
Thomas
Kennedy
Ed Hartnett
Seton Hall
