Was the Dred Scott reference code for Roe v. Wade?

It wouldn't...if there was an objectively 'correct' answer to the question like "1 + 1 = ?".

Your response to Dworkin's piece puzzles me. Did you assume he must be some leftist weirdo journalist simply on the basis blatham linked it? Any interest in a careful discussion of the piece? I'd wager we could talk joe and soz into participating.

I think Thomas has indicated (with unusual grace) (not unusual for him, unusual for people in general) that he already gets that last point.

I don't have any particular opinion on Dworkin, Ronald, though I'm not much of a fan of Dworkin, Andrea.

soz

Re Dworkin...on the linked page here, those pieces in blue text are still available free.
http://www.nybooks.com/archives/search?author_name=Ronald+Dworkin&title=&reviewed_author=&reviewed_item=&form=&year=

I grant you that in questions of jurisprudence, there are shades of gray and leeway for commonsense judgment. How does it make a difference now?


I didn't. My beef is with this particular article, I didn't make any assumptions about Dworkin, and I repeated it in my next response that I didn't. I will hereby repeat it again right now. I would appreciate it if I didn't have to repeat it a third time.


I am interested, but can't promise any particular investment of time in the discussion. I'm travelling, so will be online infrequently.


... and that's exactly what bothers me. It's the same rhetorical trick Republican pundids use when they call Paul Krugman "shrill", and talk (in general terms) about the "fact" that Democrats are tree-hugging, gay-loving elitists. They rarely mention that Krugman's has a good reason for his shrillness -- for example, his forecast of an emerging, Argentina-style balance-of-payment crisis in America is frighteningly real. Neither do they mention that Democrats may have good reasons for protecting the environment and gay rights.

You have all read such articles by conservatives. Would you consider it valid if a Republican offered a defense like this? "Hey, wait a minute -- the author never talks about fiscal policy, nor does he ever consider any arguments about gay rights or environmental protection. So what are you so annoyed about?" Of course you wouldn't accept this defense, and rightly so. Because the very fact that the author doesn't talk about it is the problem.

And this is exactly the problem I have with this article of Dworkin's. As you, Joe, are correct to point out, he "writes in general terms about 'conservative' or even 'reactionary' judges". If he had talked about the Bush administration that way, I would have no problem with that because practically every substantive argument this administration ever offers turns out to be Orwellian bullcrap. But the conservative judges Dworkin talks about have good substantive reasons for reaching the conclusions they reach. And given that these reasons exist -- even though you may not agree with them -- I find it dishonest of Dworking not to mention them.

Hence my "evident annoyance".

To discuss Dworkin's piece... http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=982898#982898

I'm away (flying at 4AM...jesus!) to the mid-west until after the election.

No doubt the judges that Dworkin would call "conservative" or "reactionary" have substantive reasons for reaching their decisions; whether those reasons are "good" or not is another matter entirely. And I don't fault Dworkin for failing to go into those reasons: it is, after all, a short opinion piece for a non-specialist publication, not a law review article.