Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

October 27, 2009

Scalia Would Have Voted to Keep School Segregation

In an appearance at the University of Arizona, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia "said he likely would have dissented from the historic 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision that declared school segregation illegal and struck down the system of 'separate but equal'; public schools," the East Valley Tribune reports.

"He said that decision, which overturned earlier precedent, was designed to provide an approach the majority liked better."

"I will stipulate that it will,'' Scalia said. But he said that doesn't make it right.

Update: Jack Balkin has video of the event which appears to show the newspaper misquoted Scalia.

Update II: A longtime Political Wire reader emails: "I can corroborate this because I was at the talk yesterday and the Justice never claimed that he would have voted against Brown.  He did at one point claim that his originalist approach would have led him to dissent with Harlan in Plessy v. Ferguson."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the creator of Political Wire, a political column updated around the clock with the most interesting news, buzz and commentary.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

This is a personal site and does not necessarily reflect the views of any company, political campaign or advocacy group.

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