tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post681534228628566217..comments2023-11-03T06:35:48.003-05:00Comments on Shark and Shepherd: Taking Thomas seriouslyRick Esenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07280070509167910367noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-16974864054082340872007-06-21T14:09:00.000-05:002007-06-21T14:09:00.000-05:00Rick,But that's a huge stretch of the 14th Amendme...Rick,<BR/><BR/>But that's a huge stretch of the 14th Amendment. The most straightfoward interpretation of the Equal Protection clause is that government must "protect" what it protects equally for blacks and whites.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure you are aware of the fact that the Reconstruction Congress that passed the 14th Amendment also voted to segregate the DC city schools. It's also the case that, during the same time, when Congress was debating the Civil Rights Act is was stated that integrated schools were not a "civil right."<BR/><BR/>Compare what the courts did in the 50s, 60s and 70s with what Congress did. Before court orders had achieved more than token integration, the 64 Civil Rights Act outlawed school segregation.<BR/><BR/>What did the courts do? They pushed ahead with forced bussing for racial balance, something Congress never approved.<BR/><BR/>Accept Brown (and the activism that followed) and you get forced bussing.<BR/><BR/>If you like Harlan in <EM>Plessy,</EM> is this because his opinion is good constitutional law, or because it's ethically attractive?<BR/><BR/>"Ethically attractive" is a trap. It substitutes the judge's ethical sense in place of the Constitution.John McAdamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04843727752066511266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-29969717607591637442007-06-19T16:07:00.000-05:002007-06-19T16:07:00.000-05:00JohnI don't agree. I'm with Justice Harlan in Ples...John<BR/><BR/>I don't agree. I'm with Justice Harlan in <I>Plessy</I>. The 14th prohibits the states from legislating on the basis of race. No segregation by law.Rick Esenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07280070509167910367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-91439736707073654882007-06-19T14:04:00.000-05:002007-06-19T14:04:00.000-05:00Mostly a great post, but the simple truth is that ...Mostly a great post, but the simple truth is that <EM>Brown</EM> was a blatant act of judicial legislation.<BR/><BR/>I know it's not politically correct to say that, but it's true.<BR/><BR/>Nothing in the 14th Amendment was supposed to require integrated schools.<BR/><BR/><EM>Brown</EM> is off limits because at the time it was mostly racists who opposed it. But that doesn't change the fact that it was judicial legislation.<BR/><BR/>It seems to be that conservatives shoot themselves in the foot when they complain about judicial legislation, and then pretend that <EM>really popular</EM> judicial legislation has some basis in the Constitution.John McAdamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04843727752066511266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-76078296864874375292007-06-18T22:46:00.000-05:002007-06-18T22:46:00.000-05:00I am commenting on the reaction of Cohen and Patte...I am commenting on the reaction of Cohen and Patterson reaction to the book and not the book itself. For all I know the book is a careful treatment of Thomas' work, but Cohen and Patterson decided to go off on these "what could be wrong with a black guy to make him a conservative" meditations.<BR/><BR/>Incidentally, the post I removed was a come-on for porn.Rick Esenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07280070509167910367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-66099152185388611312007-06-18T21:03:00.000-05:002007-06-18T21:03:00.000-05:00"Fess up, Esenberg. Have you read the book? This..."Fess up, Esenberg. Have you read the book? This is the second time you've gone warbling on about Thomas and the Thomas-haters.<BR/><BR/>Have you read the book?<BR/><BR/>I haven't...yet. I got my name on the reserve list at the Waukesha Public library and the called me today, telling me that it is in, and I'm first on the list.<BR/><BR/>I have it now, have just finished the prologue. Looks like a good read. I remember co-author, Kevin Merida, from when he was on the Milwaukee Journal in the 80s. A good and thoughtful writer.<BR/><BR/>Get the book; stop hooting about second-hand analysis in the NYT.<BR/><BR/>Read the book. Give your take on it; not some third hand howl about how some reviewer in in East Coast newspaper offends you tender little right wing sensibilities, as he writes about a book you haven't yet read.Jim Boumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17211745461377043118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20692053.post-31524556126541228412007-06-18T09:56:00.000-05:002007-06-18T09:56:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com