Actually, the best thing about Kennedy is his skepticism of the whole takings doctrine-- he's rejected the doctrine of striking down legislation in the name of regulatory takings in almost all cases. Which means that at least if we control state governments, Kennedy won't be a strong vote to block those state laws, even if he will block some federal legislation in the name of the states rights crap.
But as Doug said, the best thing about definitely losing the Supreme Court as a positive force for the next generation is that it will force progressives to abandon elite legal strategies in favor of grassroots organizing and politics.
Nathan Newman
----- Original Message ----- From: "andie nachgeborenen" <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 8:01 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Alito & disability
No doubt things are grim. But Kennedy also wrote the two decisions making it, in effect, unlawful to discriminate against gays because there ios no rational basis for discriminatory anti-gay legislation based omn pure animus. Is he firmly planted on the right? Not so obvious. (a) People change. I gave a list of Justices who started out on the right and ended up on on the left or in the center.
(b) There is a pragmatic reason for Kennedy to become the Court's new O'Connor. O'Connor wielded a lot of influence as the swing vote, influence that Scalia and Thomas on the right or Stevens (formerly on the right -- e.g., was on the wrong side of Bakke, now the left-most justice on the Court) or Souter on the left do not wield because their positions are predictable.
Maybe you are right are we are completely doomed, we've got five horseman instead of four, and we can forget about any hopeful interpretations of federal law for the next thirty years. We'll see. I just point out that there some reason to think that things, dark as they are, may not be so dark as you and Doug suggest.
jks
--- Marta Russell <ap888 at lafn.org> wrote:
> Wasn't Kennedy the one who wrote the decision giving
> the 2000
> election to Bush? He seems planted firmly on the
> right to me. Doug
> is right, and the spineless Dems are going to let it
> happen.
> Activists have been calling on people to call the
> moderate Repugnants
> like Snow, Chafee, etc. but the Dems must lead a
> filibuster and it
> doesn't look like that is going to happen. A very
> dark cloud is upon
> us. The mild language of NCIL makes me SICK.
> marta
>
> On Jan 14, 2006, at 3:20 PM, andie nachgeborenen
> wrote:
>
> > Well, there is still the thought that Alito and
> > Roberts might turn Kennedy into an O'Connor -- it
> has
> > happened before, with Blackmun, Stewart, and tos a
> > certain extent with O'Connor herself. There is
> > positive hope that he might even end up in
> O'Connor
> > country in view, e.g., of his gay rights opinions.
> >
> > --- Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> Marta Russell quoted:
> >>
> >>
> >>> People with disabilities remain concerned about
> >>>
> >> whether the
> >>
> >>> Supreme Court will uphold critical rights under
> the
> >>>
> >> ADA.
> >>
> >> The SC is gone, man. Once Alito joins, it's
> wholly
> >> in control of the
> >> forces of evil. The only hopeful bit about this
> is
> >> that it might cure
> >> the left, broadly defined, of its infatuation
> with
> >> litigation and
> >> fetishizing the constitution, and turn instead to
> >> agitating,
> >> educating, and organizing.
> >>
> >> Doug
> >> ___________________________________
> >>
> >>
> >
>
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> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
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