Posted by Orin Kerr:
More on Obama's View of the Constitution:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_05_04-2008_05_10.shtml#1210371002
Via [1]Bench Memos, I recently came across [2]what appears to be a
transcript of Senator Obama's address to the Planned Parenthood Action
Fund, on July 17, 2007 in which he spoke about the law and the
Constitution. An excerpt:
I think the Constitution can be interpreted in so many ways. And
one way is a cramped and narrow way in which the Constitution and
the courts essentially become the rubber stamps of the powerful in
society. And then there�s another vision of the court [sic] that
says that the courts are the refuge of the powerless. Because
oftentimes they can lose in the democratic back and forth. They may
be locked out and prevented from fully participating in the
democratic process.
That�s one of the reasons I opposed Alito, you know, as well as
Justice Roberts. When Roberts came up and everybody was saying,
�You know, he�s very smart and he�s seems a very decent man and he
loves his wife. [Laughter] You know, he�s good to his dog.
[laughter] He�s so well qualified.� I said, well look, that�s
absolutely true and in most Supreme Court decis--, in the
overwhelming number of Supreme Court decisions, that�s enough. Good
intellect, you read the statute, you look at the case law and most
of the time, the law�s pretty clear. Ninety-five percent of the
time. Justice Ginsburg, Justice Thomas, Justice Scalia they�re all
gonna agree on the outcome.
But it�s those five percent of the cases that really count. And in
those five percent of the cases, what you�ve got to look at is �
what is in the justice�s heart.
References
1.
http://bench.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2I0MWI0NjYwMDY3Njg3YzI3ZTRjYmUxZDExMTdmMjc=
2. http://lauraetch.googlepages.com/barackobamabeforeplannedparenthoodaction
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