Known for his no-nonsense expressive style, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told the audience at the Museum of the Rockies on Wednesday evening his talk was entitled, "Mullahs of the West: Judges as Moral Arbitors."
In his near-quarter century serving on the country's highest court, judges have increasingly been asked to rule on issues of morality - issues about which justices have no business making decisions, Scalia said.
Whether a woman has a constitutional right to abortion, same-sex couples have the right to marry, the government has the right to put a man to death for his crimes or a person has the right to assisted suicide are all moral questions that have been put before the court, he said.
"These and many similar questions involve basic morality, basic human rights and surely there is a right and a wrong answer to them," he said. "I believe firmly that there is."
Harkening to his vehement belief that the U.S. Constitution should be upheld in its purest form and not interpreted to suit the whimsies of a changing society, Scalia said the judicial branch has changed since he joined the bench in 1986, and not for the better, he said.
"A change occurred in the last half of the 20th century and I am sorry to say that my court was responsible for it," he said. "It was my court that invented the notion of a living constitution."
Before the program, several people stood outside the museum in the rain hoping to get in to hear the justice speak.
Civil litigation attorney Cris Armenta was one of those hopefuls.
"It's a unique opportunity," she said of the justice's appearance in Bozeman. "He's a brilliant writer and a brilliant man, but I don't always agree with his opinions."
Armenta was one of a number of people who were unable to get into the museum's Hager Auditorium to hear Scalia speak.
Also getting wet in the parking lot were two protesters holding signs.
"Corporations are not for people," one placard proclaimed. "Give us back our country!! Give us back our voice!!!"
The sign referred to a recent high court decision to allow corporations to make donations to political campaigns.
During a question-and-answer session following his speech, Scalia defended that decision. He said big corporations "don't give a darn" and give to both parties. Furthermore, he added, corporations are groups of individuals who are entitled to free speech.
As he spoke about constitutional interpretation as in regards to the death penalty or any other "moral" issue, he said that decision belongs to the people. The role of a Supreme Court justice is to interpret the Constitution the way it was intended by the men who wrote it.
"As a matter of democratic theory, there is no more reason to take these issues away from the people than there is to take away issues of economic policy because there is no moral expert to answer them," he said. "Only the people could bring about change by amending the Constitution."
The answer to "value-laden questions should not be provided by seven unelected judges," he added. "Nothing I learned at Harvard Law School qualifies me to determine whether there's a fundamental right to abortion or assisted suicide."
Other justices don't agree, he said, citing a recent majority opinion that noted their position that such determinations reflect "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society."
He then quipped, "That is, of course, we, the Supreme Court, who will determine when there has been evolution."
Jodi Hausen can be reached at jhausen@dailychronicle.com or 582-2630. Read her blog at jhausen.wordpress.com or follow her on Twitter @bozemancrime.
natemt posted at 12:10 pm on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
He is NOT welcome back to, Montana.
He was way out of line to kick a mother and her baby out of the lecture, just because he did not like the baby mildly acting up.
During the question and answer time, no woman got up to ask him a question. Could this be because of his earlier actions of kicking a mother and baby out of the lecture.
I am sure the woman in the crowd felt intimidated by him.
Debbie posted at 11:10 am on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
"Scalia said the judicial branch has changed since he joined the bench in 1986, and not for the better, he said."
No kidding Antoin....it has gotten despicably worse since you joined...think corporations!!!
Mountain Man posted at 9:26 am on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
Correctly stated, pelagius. Corporations are legal constructs. Government created them.
And it is worth noting that the court did not vote to open the floodgates for corporate politcal contributions.
pelagius posted at 8:44 am on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
Corporations are groups of individuals. Correct. The INDIVIDUALS can donate to whatever political cause they wish, the corporations and corporate funds should NOT be able to influence elections. There is no mention in the United States Constitution that corporations have the same rights as individual Americans.
Mountain Man posted at 8:04 am on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
A brilliant, articulate, insightful man. We are blessed to have him on the court.
paddler posted at 7:02 am on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
Fat-Tony, thrilled to usher in fascism, "Furthermore, he added, corporations are groups of individuals who are entitled to free speech", what utter hogwash. Go home to your coumpound Tony, you're fowling the air.
ginowan90 posted at 5:09 am on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
As a Libertarian, I am comforted by the presence of people like Scalia, he understands the intent of the Constitution giving supremacy to the individual rather than governmental bureaucracies. The Bill of Rights informs us that we as individuals have natural rights that we are born with and that these rights cannot be given or taken away by any government or collection of individuals.
We as individuals or groups of individuals, whether formal or informal, do not get to deny other human beings their right to speech just because we don't agree with the speech or the individual or group of people the speech comes from.
alcas24 posted at 3:29 am on Thu, Jul 29, 2010.
What a pompous assclown. Hate this man with a passion. He is a part of the driving force for multinational corporations to run this country. So sad that we are stuck in this ridiculous liberal/conservative paradigm. Libertarians must rise up and save this country.