Justice Scalia: Why Should Judges Dictate Natural Law?

Text with video:
ForaTv — January 04, 2010 — Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/09/22/Justice_Ant...

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argues that the people of a democracy, not judges, should bear the responsibility to decide on issues of natural law like abortion and sodomy. "Why are judges experts on these questions?" he asks. "In democratic political institutions, it's up to the people to decide what they think natural law demands."

-----

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia delivers a lecture on the clash between international and state law that is inherent in globalization. He explores historical precedents, and discusses the best and the worst ways of implementing international law. - American Academy In Berlin

Antonin Scalia - Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, March 11, 1936. He received his A.B. from Georgetown University and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and his LL.B. from Harvard Law School, and was a Sheldon Fellow of Harvard University from 1960-1961.

He was in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio from 1961-1967, a Professor of Law at the University of Virginia from 1967-1971, and a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago from 1977-1982, and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University and Stanford University.

He was chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law, 1981-1982, and its Conference of Section Chairmen, 1982-1983. He served the federal government as General Counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy from 1971-1972, Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1972-1974, and Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel from 1974-1977.

He was appointed Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1982. President Reagan nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat September 26, 1986.



* * * *

Law Enforcement 'Addicted' to Drug Revenue - Norm Stamper


Text with video:
ForaTv — November 09, 2009 — Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/04/Should_All_...

Norm Stamper, former chief of the Seattle Police Department, argues that law enforcement, and the private industries associated with it, make too much revenue from the prosecution of drug laws to support reform. "I think making profit off the criminal justice system, which deals fundamentally with social justice, is immoral," says Stamper.

-----

Although the media sporadically reports on major narcotic raids, the general consensus about the war on drugs is that small battles will not win this war. Despite all the money spent on drug enforcement worldwide, illicit drugs are still relatively cheap and widely available. Increasingly drugs are being viewed as a social problem rather than strictly a legal one.

So is it time to rethink traditional approaches to the illegal drug industry? Countries like Portugal and Argentina are forging ahead with drug reforms, but will Australia follow suit?

In this panel from the provocative Festival of Dangerous Ideas the argument is put forward that decriminalization and regulation would be the best solution to addressing the problems associated with drugs. - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Norm Stamper is the former Chief of the Seattle Police Department. He is an advisory board member for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and is the author of Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of American Policing.

* * * *

http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikileaks-release-10-17.html

http://starkravingviking.blogspot.com/2010/04/geraldo-rivera-and-heroin-in.html