Wednesday, May 19, 2010

I agree with conservative Justice Clarence Thomas!

This very rarely happens, but I agree with Justice Thomas' (7-2) dissent in the United States v. Cornstock in which the Supreme Court's decision asserted that sex offenders who had finished their time in prison could be held indefinitely if the state or federal government deemed that those prisoners were likely to commit sexual offenses again.  Minority Report anyone? Justice Thomas wrote:
"to be sure, protecting society from violent sexual offenders is certainly an important end. Sexual abuse is a despicable act with untold consequences for the victim personally and society generally. … But the Constitution does not vest in Congress the authority to protect society from every bad act that might befall it."
Traditional intellectual conservatism. Weak on crime, strong on rights.  You can't be jailed for something you might do, you can only be jailed for something you have DONE.

(Unless there are CIA/FBI spies who watch you plan to do something bad...that's different)

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