Tuesday, April 29, 2008
"Bad f***in' news for Tennessee constitutionalists"
Bad f***in' news for Tennessee constitutionalists:
"William M. Barker, the Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice, announced his intention today to retire from the state’s highest court," the Nashville City Paper reports.
In Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Don Sundquist, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled, 4 to 1, that there is a fundamental right in the Tennessee Constitution that is stronger than the abortion rights discovered in the U.S. Constitution by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
In a magnificent 38-page dissent, Justice William Barker shot the pro-abortion crowd's arguments all to hell. Here's a passage from his dissent:
"Plainly stated, the effect of the court's holding today is to remove from the people all power, except by constitutional amendment, to enact reasonable regulations of abortion. Rather than leaving policy decisions regarding reasonable abortion regulation to the General Assembly, this court has converted itself into a roving constitutional convention, which sees itself free to strike down the duly-enacted laws of the legislature for no other reason than it feels they are burdensome and unwise. In so doing, the court has been unable to convincingly point to any textual or historical basis for its decision, and its holding that our Constitution provides greater protection for the judicially-created right of privacy than the federal Constitution is contrary to nearly 200 years of legal precedent."
Goodbye, Chief Justice Barker. You will be missed.
"William M. Barker, the Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice, announced his intention today to retire from the state’s highest court," the Nashville City Paper reports.
In Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Don Sundquist, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled, 4 to 1, that there is a fundamental right in the Tennessee Constitution that is stronger than the abortion rights discovered in the U.S. Constitution by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade.
In a magnificent 38-page dissent, Justice William Barker shot the pro-abortion crowd's arguments all to hell. Here's a passage from his dissent:
"Plainly stated, the effect of the court's holding today is to remove from the people all power, except by constitutional amendment, to enact reasonable regulations of abortion. Rather than leaving policy decisions regarding reasonable abortion regulation to the General Assembly, this court has converted itself into a roving constitutional convention, which sees itself free to strike down the duly-enacted laws of the legislature for no other reason than it feels they are burdensome and unwise. In so doing, the court has been unable to convincingly point to any textual or historical basis for its decision, and its holding that our Constitution provides greater protection for the judicially-created right of privacy than the federal Constitution is contrary to nearly 200 years of legal precedent."
Goodbye, Chief Justice Barker. You will be missed.
# posted by Joltin' Django @ Tuesday, April 29, 2008 
