Scalia: Reading Obamacare Bill Is Cruel And Unusual Punishment
During the legal debates over Obamacare before the Supreme Court today, Justice Scalia (who seems to be of the opinion that the entire law should be tossed out) joked that being asked to read the 2,700 page bill would violate the Constitution’s 8th amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
Transcript from The Washington Free Beacon:
JUSTICE SCALIA: Mr. Kneedler, what happened to the Eighth Amendment? You really want us to go through these 2,700 pages?
(Laughter.)
JUSTICE SCALIA: And do you really expect the Court to do that? Or do you expect us to — to give this function to our law clerks?
Is this not totally unrealistic? That we are going to go through this enormous bill item by item and decide each one?
Scalia’s joking, though his larger point is serious. Can the Supreme Court really be expected to parse this enormous piece of legislation, ruling on it bit-by-bit, or should they simply find the entirety unconstitutional and be rid of it all?
Clearly, the latter option makes the most sense.
Tags: 8th amendment, antonin scalia, obamacare, Supreme Court
