The Plum Line

Since Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network saw fit to bring up Plessy v. Ferguson in relation to the Sotomayor nomination (after we brought it up in relation to the Prop 8 decision), we thought we’d take a moment to revisit this week’s featured Supreme Court decision.

Long, shouting at Chris Matthews, was trying to demonstrate that justice doesn’t require a diverse court:

An all-male white court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in Brown v. Board of Education.

As our own Serolf Divad noted, this overlooks the historical curiosity that an all-male white court gave us Plessy in the first place — a legacy that lasted almost sixty years.

But what caught our attention was her additional remark:

What happened was, Plessy was a lawless decision. Brown is what the Constitution, and all men being created equal, and the aspirations of our Declaration of Independence, are all about.

Lawless?

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The usual hate preach:

But will the Antichrist be a homosexual? Having seen what the Bible says of sodomy, we have no further to look than the book of Daniel, chapter 11 to find our answer. It says, “Neither shall he [Antichrist] regard… the desire of women….”

Why do we bother? Only because it’s a column from the Wasilla newspaper.

Will the Antichrist be a homosexual? [Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, via Sully]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhK-f3GE1nE

For this morning’s seminar, we welcome Congressman Tom Price of the Republican Study Committee. Congressman Price has graciously accepted our invitation to create a hypothetical ad illustrating yesterday’s topic, “If you’re going quote someone out of context, remember to omit the context.”

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On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy bought a first-class ticket for Covington on the East Louisiana Railway, and found himself a seat. That night, he found himself in jail.

Plessy, seven-eighths Caucasian by the standards of the day, had boarded a Whites-only coach. The keen-eyed conductor, empowered by an 1890 state law, asked Plessy to move to a Colored coach on the same train. When Plessy refused, the New Orleans police were called in to haul him away.

Violating the law carried a $25 fine or twenty days in jail.

The case we know as Plessy v. Ferguson reached the Supreme Court in 1896. Justice Henry Billings Brown, writing for the 7-1 majority, argued that the still-fresh 13th and 14th Amendments — one abolishing slavery, the other guaranteeing all citizens “the equal protection of the laws” — had no bearing on the matter at hand:

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The fate of California’s Prop 8 will be announced at 10 a.m. Pacific, and immediately posted on the state Supreme Court website. Riots are scheduled for 10:01.

California Supreme Court to rule Tuesday on gay marriage [LAT]

Update: Prop 8 upheld. 18,000 marriages still valid. Here’s the decision (PDF), presuming the server doesn’t crash again.

SanFranLefty reports from the scene…

9:41 a.m. Pacific: Big crowd of Mormons and nervous gheys.

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Finally, some fresh air on the torture issue:

“I think it’s important to also know that this is the law, this isn’t a policy.”

Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, laying out clearly the Obama Administration’s plans to prosecute the architects of the Bush torture program, which violates international treaties and federal—

Hold on. He’s actually shooting down the Obama Administration’s plans to continue indefinite detentions without appeal to habeas—

Oops, we’re sorry. He’s really talking about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Never mind.

Mullen: Military to comply if gay ban law changes [AP/TPM]

Image: 21st Century Filth