POL 150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Scholia, Equal Protection Clause, Antonin Scalia
21 May 2016
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Document Summary
Laurence v. texas: anti-saudamy law; important because it overturned bowers v. georgia: saudi mite is like a euphemism for homosexuality. Kennedy"s majority opinion: define liberty, over rule precedent, explain the evolution of constitutional principles: role of the court: protecting a principle or objective view of liberty and upholding popular norms, how is liberty defined? (pg. Thomas" dissent: similar to stewart"s dissent in griswold v. connecticut. Starts from claims about human nature; the social meaning of marriage; historical context (pg. Identifies broad constitutional principles and figure out how they fit into contemporary context (in dworkin"s language, move from concept to conception ; or, in jacobsohn"s language, from principles to values (pp. Argues for a particular role for the court in guaranteeing newly recognized rights (pp. Reads constitutional laws as primarily positive law: the majority ceases for itself > constitutional law is neutral; it is not based on any particular understanding of freedom or liberty.
