Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise today to pay tribute to Associate Justice Scalia of the Supreme Court. His recent death is a tremendous loss to the Court and the Nation. He was a defender of the Constitution. Since his death, a wide range of commentators--even many who disagreed with him on judicial philosophy--have hailed him as one of the greatest Supreme Court Justices in our history. Justice Scalia was a tireless defender of constitutional freedom. In so many cases when the Court was divided, he sided with litigants who raised claims under the Bill of Rights. This was a manifestation of his view that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the text and as it was originally understood. The Framers believed that the Constitution was adopted to protect individual liberty, and, of course, so did Justice Scalia. He was a strong believer in free speech and freedom of religion. He upheld many claims of constitutional rights by criminal defendants, including search and seizure, jury trials, and the right of the accused to confront the witnesses against them. Justice Scalia's memorable opinions also recognize the importance the Framers placed on the Constitution's checks and balances to safeguard individual liberty. Their preferred protection of freedom was not through litigation and the Court's imperfect after-the-fact redress for liberty deprived.…”