A Decision Worthy Of Scalia
[posted by Justin Levine]
DRJ has already given a good rundown of the Supreme Court’s decision in Medellin v. Texas.
I just had to point out the [PDF] opinion by Chief Justice Roberts manages to channel some of Scalia’s best moments when he body slams the dissent with some veiled sarcasm.
One choice passage –
The dissent faults our analysis because it “looks for the wrong thing (explicit textual expression about self execution) using the wrong standard (clarity) in the wrong place (the treaty language).” Given our obligation to interpret treaty provisions to determine whether they are self-executing, we have to confess that we do think it rather important to look to the treaty language to see what it has to say about the issue. That is after all what the Senate looks to in deciding whether to approve the treaty.
The interpretive approach employed by the Court today— resorting to the text—is hardly novel.
Heh. Good one, Roberts.
Joe M. (5d215f) — 3/26/2008 @ 12:38 am“The interpretive approach employed by the Court today— resorting to the text—is hardly novel.”
It seems far more novel than it should.
Al (b624ac) — 3/26/2008 @ 8:21 amGood post, Justin. It almost feels like Roberts has become the straight man for Scalia.
Sadly true, Al.
DRJ (a431ca) — 3/26/2008 @ 9:01 amFor the LA Times, the most important thing about Medellin is that the Supreme Court ruled “Bush exceeded his powers.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus26mar26,1,4026763.story
Unfortunately, according to the Times, in so doing, the Court decided the case the wrong way.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-mexico26mar26,0,3675818.story
The Times feels it would have been better if the court could have found a way to rule against the Bush administration while at the same time adopting the position that the Bush Justice Department was urging it to take.
Troopship Berlin (56a0a8) — 3/26/2008 @ 9:14 amCan’t have Truth, Justice, and the American Way, getting in front of a good case of BDS here, can we?
Another Drew (f9dd2c) — 3/26/2008 @ 9:50 am