A Dissent by Scalia Is Criticized as Political
He then complained about the Obama administration’s plan to exempt about 1.4 million illegal immigrants not over 30 and asserted that the court’s statement that Arizona contradicted federal law by enforcing applications of the Immigration Act “that the president declines to enforce boggles the mind.”
In addition, he cited immigration laws from the days of slavery, something else that shocked commentators.
“He jumped the shark here,” said Gabriel J. Chin, a law professor at the University of California, Davis. “Harkening back to the ‘good old days’ of the law of slavery impeaches his position. He practically cited Dred Scott. The whole thing was intemperate, a screed.”
Jeffrey Toobin, who writes about the Supreme Court for The New Yorker, noted in a blog post on Tuesday that the last days of the court’s session “rarely show off the justices to great advantage. Like other mortals, they have put off doing their hardest work, so only the most controversial cases remain.”
He said the Arizona decision was sufficiently split that both sides were able to claim victory, meaning perhaps that a reasonable compromise had been reached. He then added: “That was not how Scalia saw it. After 25 years on the court, Scalia has earned a reputation for engaging in splenetic hyperbole — but he outdid himself this time.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/us/scalias-immigration-dissent-is-criticized-as-political.html?_r=1
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