corrente

Or maybe, since so far he's failed to dominate the Court with his winger agenda, he doesn't even bother to appear impartial any more.

WASHINGTON — As the Supreme Court was weighing a landmark gay rights case last year, Justice Antonin Scalia gave a keynote dinner speech in Philadelphia for an advocacy group waging a legal battle against gay rights.

Scalia addressed the $150-a-plate dinner hosted by the Urban Family Council two months after hearing oral arguments in a challenge to a Texas law that made gay sex a crime. A month after the dinner, he sharply dissented from the high court's decision overturning the Texas law.

The Urban Family Council, which hosted the dinner, was not a party to the Texas case. But it is backing a separate lawsuit that seeks to overturn a Philadelphia city ordinance allowing gay couples who work for the city to register as "life partners" to qualify for pension and health benefits, which is an increasingly common practice.

William Devlin, who founded the council, is lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which is pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Both sides say the case of Devlin vs. City of Philadelphia has a good chance of reaching Scalia's court.

Devlin said he phoned the justice at home last year...

Just like any citizen could do....

... to invite him to speak at the group's dinner, which was being held to raise money to support the lawsuit and other council activities. The dinner also honored the retiring Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, who has said homosexuality is "an aberration, a moral evil" — and is an outspoken opponent of the life-partners ordinance.

The judicial code bars judges from raising money for outside groups. It also says a judge should not "permit the use of the prestige of the judicial office for that purpose."

Devlin said he saw no reason not to invite Scalia.

"We just thought: What better way than to have a sitting Supreme Court justice up to speak? It's nice to be able to say you have a friend like Justice Scalia," Devlin said.

Case closed.

Two months before the dinner, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case called Lawrence vs. Texas. The matter began as a dispute over the 1998 arrest of two gay men in Houston who were charged with sodomy.

In remarks from the bench, Scalia said that "moral disapproval of homosexuality" is an American tradition.
(via LA Times)

Sure. Like slavery, lynching, segregation.... Stolen elections....