Oh those moral fundamentalists
posted by Liberal Eagle at 12:41 AM
Digby notes that the Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of a man about to be executed in Georgia who is quite probably innocent, but whose appeals are now exhausted.
I'm with Digby--I oppose the death penalty anyhow, but I find it especially appalling that anyone could possibly fail to be horrified at the idea of ritualistically killing someone for something he or she didn't even do.
But what do you expect, from a Supreme Court that has as one of its leading intellectual lights a man named Scalia, who believes there is no constitutional right to bring evidence, but why worry? Surely if you're innocent, the president will always let you off the hook, because the president is always gonna be a fantastic guy!
As he said in a 1993 concurrence in Herrera v. Collins:
Oh, well, I won't worry. I don't need rules protecting me. I can rely on rich white guys to do the right thing without being compelled.
It gets worse, though. Scalia apparently doesn't even believe executing innocent people is a big deal. He knows this because his Christian faith tells him so. I am not making this up. In a speech on January 25, 2002, he said:
Yes. Aren't we unbelievers stupid. We think it's important to make damn sure we don't go around killing innocent people. If only we knew better, like that great Christian Antonin Scalia.
I might start bringing this up when people try to tell me atheists are inherently less moral than those guided by religious faith.
I'm with Digby--I oppose the death penalty anyhow, but I find it especially appalling that anyone could possibly fail to be horrified at the idea of ritualistically killing someone for something he or she didn't even do.
But what do you expect, from a Supreme Court that has as one of its leading intellectual lights a man named Scalia, who believes there is no constitutional right to bring evidence, but why worry? Surely if you're innocent, the president will always let you off the hook, because the president is always gonna be a fantastic guy!
As he said in a 1993 concurrence in Herrera v. Collins:
I can understand, or at least am accustomed to, the reluctance of the present Court to admit publicly that Our Perfect Constitution lets stand any injustice, much less the execution of an innocent man who has received, though to no avail, all the process that our society has traditionally deemed adequate. With any luck, we shall avoid ever having to face this embarrassing question again, since it is improbable that evidence of innocence as convincing as today's opinion requires would fail to produce an executive pardon.
Oh, well, I won't worry. I don't need rules protecting me. I can rely on rich white guys to do the right thing without being compelled.
It gets worse, though. Scalia apparently doesn't even believe executing innocent people is a big deal. He knows this because his Christian faith tells him so. I am not making this up. In a speech on January 25, 2002, he said:
For the believing Christian, death is no big deal. Intentionally killing an innocent person is a big deal, a grave sin which causes one to lose his soul, but losing this physical life in exchange for the next – the Christian attitude is reflected in the words Robert Bolt’s play has Thomas More saying to the headsman: "Friend, be not afraid of your office. You send me to God." And when Cramner asks whether he is sure of that, More replies, "He will not refuse one who is so blithe to go to him."
For the non-believer, on the other hand, to deprive a man of his life is to end his existence – what a horrible act.
Yes. Aren't we unbelievers stupid. We think it's important to make damn sure we don't go around killing innocent people. If only we knew better, like that great Christian Antonin Scalia.
I might start bringing this up when people try to tell me atheists are inherently less moral than those guided by religious faith.
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