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Clueless: Richardson on Roe and Justice White

I blogged about this Richardson gaffe earlier, but it seems the Governor of New Mexico has not put away his shovel and keeps digging:

Having blundered last week by saying Whizzer White would be his model chief justice, a reporter asks him how he can reconcile that with his strong pro-choice position when White wrote the dissent in Roe v. Wade. Richardson says, "White was in the 60s. Wasn't Roe v. Wade in the 80s?" Bzzzzzzzttt!!!

Bzzzzzzzzttt!!! indeed.

h/t Trapper John.

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  • Display: Sort:
    YES... (5.00 / 1) (#8)
    by Deconstructionist on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 12:17:51 PM EST
     in terms of jurisprudence.

      I do agree that it should be unconstitutional for states to restrict access to contraceptives and birth control information, but not because the 4th Amendment language prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure creates a right to it.

    How nice the only people who comment (5.00 / 2) (#11)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 01:02:11 PM EST
    here are anti-Roe.  How many of you are women?

    Good Point (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by squeaky on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 01:26:52 PM EST
    Much like penis envy abortion rights freaks out men more than women.

    Men have always wanted to control the Uterus, to counter the natural fact that once the little swimmers are released no one but mom knows where they came from.

    Parent

    Whoops, I forgot (1.00 / 1) (#17)
    by Gabriel Malor on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 01:34:03 PM EST
    I forgot that my penis means I have no right to comment on issues that affect the nation. My apologies for being so silly.

    I notice that you made the same comment in last week's abortion thread, Militarytracy. Maybe you could explain why men aren't aloud to talk about abortion?

    squeaky,

    The "It's about Controlling Wimins" argument was beat to death in that thread the other day.

    Parent

    Read my comment again. (none / 0) (#15)
    by cal11 voter on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 01:27:07 PM EST
    I commented about only about Richardson.

    Parent
    I agree with that (3.00 / 2) (#6)
    by Deconstructionist on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 12:01:40 PM EST
     He's not a lawyer, but that's no excuse. My point is how absurd it is to do what BTD is doing by making a gaffe  a "disqualiffying" event based on a false interpretation.

      It is simply foolish to say support for White is disqualifying. It's also foolish to mistake support for the decision in Roe with one's views on abortion. It is extremely common for lawyers and scholars to criticize Roe's jurisprudence even when people support a policy of free and unfettered access to abortions.

      MY issue with Roe is that I do not believe it is legitimate to say that the 4th amendment's language prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure can be exponentially broadeend to establish an inchoate right of "privacy." That actually came earlier in griswold but Roe took it a step further by defining abortion as within the ambit of privacy.

       The idea that disagreeing with an opinion on a subject defines one's total view is simplistic, narrow-minded hog wash. I have serious issues with Buckley v. Valleo,  too. Does that fact make me anti-free speech? No, it means that on a complex, multi-faceted and highly controversial decision I disagree with a  majority of the Supreme Court as to a particular case. Making blind and unthinking support of Roe a litmus test is symptomatic of aan inability or unwillingness to THINK and even consider anything but one's own narrow views. what's worse about BTD, is not simplyu that he is a mindless zealot unable to consider complexity but that he attacks other people who do not share his idolatry.

      Attempting to discuss anything of consequence with him  is akin to attempting to address geological and bioloical evidence indicating the Bible is not literally true with a pentecostal preacher.

    So, what about Griswold? (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by Eternal Hope on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 12:10:03 PM EST
    Roe was based on Griswold. Are you suggesting that Griswold was wrong as well?

    Parent
    Decon (1.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Gabriel Malor on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 12:49:01 PM EST
    I think you've got Roe and Griswold a little mixed. It was in Griswold where the court discovered a penumbral right to contraceptives in the Fourth Amendment. By the time Roe rolled around the court had retconned its thinking into the Fourteenth Amendment liberty interests.

    As far as the abysmal Roe decision, Decon correctly notes that folks criticise it all the time --not because they disagree with the result, but because it's really bad law. It's so bad that the Supreme Court had to retcon Roe itself. Here's Justice O'Connor in Planned Parenthood v. Casey:

    After considering the fundamental constitutional questions resolved by Roe, principles of institutional integrity, and the rule of stare decisis, we are led to conclude this: the essential holding of Roe v. Wade should be retained and once again reaffirmed.

    It must be stated at the outset and with clarity that Roe's essential holding, the holding we reaffirm, has three parts.

    O'Connor then lays out her "three principles from Roe" and goes on to ignore the rest of that decision entirely (including doing away with the trimester system and creating the new "undue burden" system). She's essentially saying: "We're going to pretend that this is what we meant in Roe and then move on from there."

    That's why it's bad law. That's why it's routinely criticised in law schools. My Con Law professor holds it up as "How not to do a constitutional analysis."

    Parent

    Casey is the law (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 01:06:13 PM EST
    then, Not Roe, in your formulation. What is your beef with Casey?

    Parent
    Roe and Casey (none / 0) (#14)
    by Gabriel Malor on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 01:27:04 PM EST
    Here are some of my favorite parts of O'Connor's Casey opinion that reveal the shortcomings of Roe and her desire to decline to overrule it based on nothing more than sentiment.

    In support of super-duper extra-special precedent:

    The reservations any of us may have in reaffirming the central holding of Roe are outweighed by the explication of individual liberty we have given combined with the force of stare decisis.

    She writes that there has "clearly" been no erosion of Roe. Her proof:

    The original holding resting on the concurrence of seven Members of the Court in 1973 was expressly affirmed by a majority of six in 1983, see Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc., and by a majority of five in 1986, see Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. More recently, in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, although two of the present authors questioned the trimester framework in a way consistent with our judgment today, a majority of the Court either decided to reaffirm or declined to address the constitutional validity of the central holding of Roe.

    She concludes the section:

    Whether or not a new social consensus is developing on that [abortion] issue, its divisiveness is no less today than in 1973, and pressure to overrule the decision, like pressure to retain it, has grown only more intense. A decision to overrule Roe's essential holding under the existing circumstances would address error, if error there was, at the cost of both profound and unnecessary damage to the Court's legitimacy, and to the Nation's commitment to the rule of law.

    In other words, O'Connor can't find good law to support her decision, but the result would be so "disasterous" that she's going to overlook the lack.

    That's my problem with Casey. It's made up out of whole cloth.

    On the other hand, I don't really have a problem with the undue burden test, itself. It's much closer to modern Supreme Court jurisprudence than the arbitrary trimester test created by Roe. In my opinion, the new test is much closer to strict scrutiny under the Fourteenth Amendment.

    Since I have no problem with affirmed liberty intersts under the Fourteenth Amendment, I wouldn't have a problem with that. Since I can't expect more than baby-steps in that direction, I'll be happy with what I got in Casey and, recently, Carhart.

    Parent

    you make a good point there (none / 0) (#16)
    by Deconstructionist on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 01:31:29 PM EST
     Stweart to his credit, in his concurrence chastised (obliquely) the majority for not being willing to admit the majority was engaging in "Lochneresque" substantive due process analysis. Stewart said he had no problem calling it substantive due process but he was still for it.  

    Parent
    Do we have a real link (none / 0) (#1)
    by Deconstructionist on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 11:16:51 AM EST
     for that? if so, he flunks the history test, but that still doesn't define his views on abortion.

    Mark Kleiman (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 11:20:40 AM EST
    is a known inveterate liar, you are right.

    Will you kindly control your urges to be insulting? Mark Kleiman reported it because he personally heard it.

    It is called reporting.

    Look it up. It is true we don;t see it much nowadays.

    For the record, we know you are anti-Roe.

    Parent

    how is that evident from the link? (none / 0) (#3)
    by Deconstructionist on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 11:27:40 AM EST
     which does not appear to be a "report" on aanything but rather a commentary.

    BTW, this link (from the always fair and balenced WT) makes it sound much worse than you suggest.

    http://washingtontimes.com/national/20070429-113419-3477r.htm

     That's the first google hit on "richardoson roe" and i'll agree that his grasp of even basic timelines (or that White poassed away) is troubling. however, he appears to bending over backward to pass your "purity test." which diminishes him in my eyes; I don't like disingenuous appeasement to make up for a "mistake."

    Live Blogging the Convention (5.00 / 1) (#9)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 12:36:40 PM EST
    mena being there live.

    For crissakes man.

    Parent

    i screwed that link all to hell (none / 0) (#4)
    by Deconstructionist on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 11:30:20 AM EST
    WT

      I think i did it backwards.

    Well, Richardson has explained why he picked... (none / 0) (#5)
    by cal11 voter on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 11:44:12 AM EST
    Justice White.  I think Richardson needs to do a little preparation before answering some questions.  Is Richardson a lawyer?