Go Back   Freethought Forum > The Public Baths > News, Politics & Law

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 02-17-2010, 06:05 AM
Jug Pilot's Avatar
Jug Pilot Jug Pilot is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: DCCCLXII
Default Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

New York Personal Injury Law Blog: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Quote:
Dan is a screenwriter (whose screenplay Tranquility Base was just named a finalist at the Vail Film Festival, and previously took top honors elsewhere). Back in 2006 he started working on a political farce that had Maine seceding from the United States and joining Canada.

Bro was well ahead of the tea partiers in contemplating impending problems as we racked up massive debt. This doesn't get him an agent or a foot in the door of Hollywood to get his screenplays made into films -- it isn't what you write, but who you know -- but it does make him a prophet of sorts.

So, on a lark, he wrote to each of the 10 Supreme Court justices (including O'Connor) with this request:

I'm a screenwriter in New York City, and am writing to see if you might be willing to assist me in a project that involves a unique constitutional issue.

My latest screenplay is a comedy about Maine seceding from the United States and joining Canada. There are parts of the story that deal with the legality of such an event and, of course, a big showdown in the Supreme Court is part of the story.

At the moment my story is a 12 page treatment. As an architect turned screenwriter, it is fair to say that I come up a bit short in the art of Supreme Court advocacy. If you could spare a few moments on a serious subject that is treated in a comedic way, I would greatly appreciate your thoughts. I'm sure you'll find the story very entertaining.

I told Dan he was nuts. I told him his letter would be placed in the circular file. And then Scalia wrote back. Personally. Explicitly rejecting the right to secede:


Those activists Judges!!!! Now what do the TeaBaggers do?

:D
__________________
Beware the Plutocrat Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death.
29th scroll, 6th verse
the Lawgiver
Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
Clutch Munny (02-17-2010), Gonzo (02-18-2010), The Man (02-19-2010)
  #2  
Old 02-17-2010, 06:13 AM
BrotherMan's Avatar
BrotherMan BrotherMan is offline
A Very Gentle Bort
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Bortlandia
Gender: Male
Posts: XVMMXVIII
Blog Entries: 5
Images: 63
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Dear Mr. Scalia,

The Pledge of Allegiance is not a binding oath last I checked. Especially when children - who as you know cannot be coerced to enter into contracts with or without their consent - are asked to say it nearly every day as a matter of course for a school day. Neverminding that adults are rarely asked nor are states as an entity.
__________________
\V/_
I COVLD TEACh YOV BVT I MVST LEVY A FEE
Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
1Samuel8 (02-19-2010)
  #3  
Old 02-17-2010, 06:50 AM
Anastasia Beaverhausen's Avatar
Anastasia Beaverhausen Anastasia Beaverhausen is offline
Vaginally-privileged sociopathic cultist
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: La Mer
Gender: Female
Posts: MXDCLXXXIV
Blog Entries: 2
Images: 1
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

All 10 Justices? :confused:
__________________
:hellokit:
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-17-2010, 06:54 AM
ChuckF's Avatar
ChuckF ChuckF is offline
liar in wolf's clothing
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Frequently about
Posts: XXCDXXX
Images: 2
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

9 + O'Connor.
Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
Anastasia Beaverhausen (02-17-2010)
  #5  
Old 02-17-2010, 06:55 AM
Anastasia Beaverhausen's Avatar
Anastasia Beaverhausen Anastasia Beaverhausen is offline
Vaginally-privileged sociopathic cultist
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: La Mer
Gender: Female
Posts: MXDCLXXXIV
Blog Entries: 2
Images: 1
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Ah, I'd forgotten she stepped down.
__________________
:hellokit:
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 02-17-2010, 07:08 AM
godfry n. glad's Avatar
godfry n. glad godfry n. glad is offline
rude, crude, lewd, and unsophisticated
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Puddle City, Cascadia
Gender: Male
Posts: XXMMCMXII
Images: 12
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Call a national convention.

Have representatives from everywhere hole up in a hotel in Des Moines for nine months, or whatever, and come up with a new tool of governance. Sell it by plebiscite in statewide elections in each state. With ratification of 3/4 of the states, we can reset with a whole new set of rules.

Isn't that in the rules? 'Cause that's how they did it last time, only it was in Philly, not Des Moines.
__________________
:wcat: :ecat:
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 02-17-2010, 03:00 PM
Stephen Maturin's Avatar
Stephen Maturin Stephen Maturin is offline
Flyover Hillbilly
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Juggalonia
Posts: MXDXXVI
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scalia
Hence, in the Pledge of Allegiance, "one Nation, indivisible."
That's "one Nation, UNDER GOD, indivisible" ya scruffy, sandal wearing, separationist hippie!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scalia
Secondly, I find it difficult to envision who the parties to this lawsuit might be.
Oh, I dunno. Let's suppose some state receives a bunch of United States government-issued bonds as part of a border dispute settlement. State law requires the governor's endorsement to sell the bonds. Later the state secedes. Needing money, the secessionist government sells the bonds to a couple of brokers. After the state gets dragged back into the union at gunpoint, the new state government wants its bonds back and sues the brokers for their return. One of the state's legal arguments is that the secessionist government that sold the bonds was illegitimate, which in turn implicates the legality of secession.

In that case, the parties would be the state as plaintiff and the guys who received the bonds as defendants.

Nah, that's ridiculous. It's not like that ever happened or anything.
__________________
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis D. Brandeis

"Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are." ~ S. Gecko

"What the fuck is a German muffin?" ~ R. Swanson
Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
Adam (02-17-2010), Clutch Munny (02-17-2010), Crumb (02-17-2010), Dingfod (02-17-2010), Nullifidian (02-17-2010), Pan Narrans (02-17-2010), Stormlight (02-17-2010), The Man (02-19-2010), viscousmemories (02-18-2010), Watser? (02-17-2010), Ymir's blood (02-17-2010)
  #8  
Old 02-17-2010, 09:47 PM
Clutch Munny's Avatar
Clutch Munny Clutch Munny is offline
Clutchenheimer
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
Posts: VMMMXCII
Images: 1
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cynical-Chick View Post
All 10 Justices? :confused:
9 + Thomas
__________________
Your very presence is making me itchy.
Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
ChuckF (02-17-2010), Dingfod (02-17-2010), erimir (04-20-2014), livius drusus (02-17-2010), Naru (02-17-2010), Nullifidian (02-17-2010), Stephen Maturin (02-17-2010), The Man (02-19-2010)
  #9  
Old 02-18-2010, 05:31 AM
Shake's Avatar
Shake Shake is offline
mostly harmless
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Nunya
Gender: Male
Posts: VDCXCII
Images: 13
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrotherMan View Post
Dear Mr. Scalia,

The Pledge of Allegiance is not a binding oath last I checked. Especially when children - who as you know cannot be coerced to enter into contracts with or without their consent - are asked to say it nearly every day as a matter of course for a school day. Neverminding that adults are rarely asked nor are states as an entity.
Don't forget that it was written by a socialist ... and you know how bad they are!
__________________
Through with oligarchy? Ready to get the money out of politics? Want real progressives in office who will work for the people and not the donors? Want to help grow The Squad?

Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
The Man (02-19-2010)
  #10  
Old 02-18-2010, 05:47 AM
godfry n. glad's Avatar
godfry n. glad godfry n. glad is offline
rude, crude, lewd, and unsophisticated
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Puddle City, Cascadia
Gender: Male
Posts: XXMMCMXII
Images: 12
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shake View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by BrotherMan View Post
Dear Mr. Scalia,

The Pledge of Allegiance is not a binding oath last I checked. Especially when children - who as you know cannot be coerced to enter into contracts with or without their consent - are asked to say it nearly every day as a matter of course for a school day. Neverminding that adults are rarely asked nor are states as an entity.
Don't forget that it was written by a socialist ... and you know how bad they are!
Yeah...but he was a minister of God! A BAPTIST, no less!

(...and he didn't put that crap about being "under God" in there; later godless politicians did that.)
__________________
:wcat: :ecat:
Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
The Man (02-19-2010)
  #11  
Old 02-18-2010, 10:00 PM
Dingfod's Avatar
Dingfod Dingfod is offline
A fellow sophisticate
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Cowtown, Kansas
Gender: Male
Blog Entries: 21
Images: 92
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Personally, I think Scalia meant there is no right to succeed.
Reply With Quote
Thanks, from:
Jug Pilot (02-19-2010), The Man (02-19-2010), Ymir's blood (02-18-2010)
  #12  
Old 04-20-2014, 01:17 AM
Dingfod's Avatar
Dingfod Dingfod is offline
A fellow sophisticate
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Cowtown, Kansas
Gender: Male
Blog Entries: 21
Images: 92
Default Re: Scalia: "There Is No Right to Secede"

Scalia is revolting.
__________________
Sleep - the most beautiful experience in life - except drink.--W.C. Fields
Reply With Quote
Reply

  Freethought Forum > The Public Baths > News, Politics & Law


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

 

All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:57 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.31237 seconds with 15 queries