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Scalia:
Gays Have
No
Constitutional Rights
by Doreen
Brandt, 365Gay.com Washington Bureau
From the
Web, March 30, 2006
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WASHINGTON, Mar. 29 -- A tape
of a speech given earlier this month by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has
drawn the ire of LGBT civil rights activists who worry the landmark high court
ruling on sodomy could be revisited.
Scalia rarely speaks to the media and seldom allows the press into speeches he
gives but a recording of a March 8 address at the University of Freiberg in
Switzerland was obtained by CNN.
In one portion of the speech to law students at the university Scalia brings up
the issue of homosexuality.
"Question comes up: is there a constitutional right to homosexual conduct?
Not a hard question for me. It's absolutely clear that nobody ever thought
when the Bill of Rights was adopted that it gave a right to homosexual conduct.
Homosexual conduct was criminal for 200 years in every state. Easy
question."
He also told the students that foreigners waging war against the United States
have no rights under the Constitution.
Earlier this month, the governor of South Dakota signed a law that makes it
illegal for a woman to have an abortion. It is widely expected that the
will be appealed, opening the way for the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v Wade.
A similar scenario could also send sodomy back to the high court.
In 2003, in a 6 - 3 decision, the Supreme Court overturned laws against sodomy,
saying that states cannot make laws regarding the private sexual conduct of
Americans.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence
Thomas dissented.
"The court has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda," Scalia
wrote for the three. He took the unusual step of reading his dissent from
the bench.
"The court has taken sides in the culture war," Scalia said, adding that he has
"nothing against homosexuals."
With the high court more conservative than it was three years ago, LGBT leaders
are worried the court may reverse itself.
"Justice Scalia stubbornly refuses to see that all Americans have a right to
liberty and privacy under the law," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe
Solmonese.
"Justice Scalia was dangerously out of step with Americans in 2003 when the
Supreme Court decided this question and he remains so today.
"This is just the latest example of why it's so critical that fair-minded
Americans think of the Court when they head to the ballot box. With the
Supreme Court tipping further to the right, these sentiments could one day
become reality," said Solmonese.
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