Constitutional Law

Liberal vs. conservative wings of the Court

Prof. Bernstein has some interesting thoughts at Cato Online.

"The Heller dissent presents the remarkable spectacle of four liberal Supreme Court justices tying themselves into an intellectual knot to narrow the protections the Bill of Rights provides.

Or perhaps it's not as remarkable as we've been led to think. Consider the Court's First Amendment decisions."

He points out that the "conservative wing" has been more respectful of freedom of expression, assembly, and religion than the "liberal wing," and the same with takings of property under the 5th Amendment.

"There are many ideological differences between the conservative and liberal justices on the Supreme Court. But a consistent, stronger liberal devotion to supporting individual rights and civil liberties against assertions of government power isn't one of them."

Via Instapundit....

Full post as published by Of Arms and the Law on July 02, 2008 (boomark / email).