O'Connor on "husband notification" Alito supported: that view is repugnant

[welshTerrier2]

O'Connor has come to be revered as a moderate justice. She's gained a reputation with the American people, especially since her resignation, as having a well-balanced judicial temperament ...

Appointing someone like her should have been at the core of bush's selection criteria ...

Well, here's what Justice O'Connor wrote when she, Kennedy and Souter wrote the majority opinion on the PA abortion case ... this opinion overturned the "husband notification" requirement that nominee Alito apparently thought was NOT in violation of either the Constitution or societal standards ... O'Connor wrote, while not specifically referring to Alito, that the views embodied by those who support the "husband notification" requirement, as Alito did, were "REPUGNANT" ...

So much for finding someone just like O'Connor ...

source: http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/91-744.ZS.html

2. Section 3209's husband notification provision constitutes an undue burden and is therefore invalid. A significant number of women will likely be prevented from obtaining an abortion just as surely as if Pennsylvania had outlawed the procedure entirely. The fact that § 3209 may affect fewer than one percent of women seeking abortions does not save it from facial invalidity, since the proper focus of constitutional inquiry is the group for whom the law is a restriction, not the group for whom it is irrelevant. Furthermore, it cannot be claimed that the father's interest in the fetus' welfare is equal to the mother's protected liberty, since it is an inescapable biological fact that state regulation with respect to the fetus will have a far greater impact on the pregnant woman's bodily integrity than it will on the husband. Section 3209 (i.e. "husband notification") embodies a view of marriage consonant with the common law status of married women but repugnant to this Court's present understanding of marriage and of the nature of the rights secured by the Constitution. See Planned Parenthood of Central Mo. v. Danforth, 428 U.S. 52, 69. Pp. 46-58.

[whatever4]

1. Bless her heart for saying so though!! nm

[aquart]

2. Gosh. I hope she feels as betrayed as we did over Bush v. Gore.

[deadparrot]

3. My dream scenario would be

O'Connor getting pissed off that he nominated another white man, and rescinding her resignation.

[feistydem]

4. Amen to that. What a beautiful smack down that would be!

[NYC Liberal]

5. Luckily it is still possible!

[PinkTiger]

6. Can she do that?

I wish she would. She should refuse to let herself be replaced by this indolent son of a rich man with ties to Nazis.

[deadparrot]

9. Yep.

She said she would serve until a new justice was approced. Until her moment of resignation, she's free to withdraw at any time.

[wryter2000]

7. Speaking as a woman who lost her husband last year

Let me tell you, nothing is going to make her give up what time she has with him. I only hope she'll feel free to speak out against such extremist views.

On edit: I didn't want to make this sound like such a guilt trip, but I do want everyone to realize it ain't gonna happen.

[deadparrot]

10. And I would absolutely respect her right to do that.

That's completely and totally understandable.

However, I've heard that her husband didn't/doesn't want her to retire and give up her life caring for him. Plus, she was reportedly very unhappy when Bush originally picked Roberts to replace her, because she believed she should be replaced by a woman.

Just food for thought. Jstice O'Connor has served her nation well, and though I may not agree with all the decisions she's made, she's certainly more than earned the right to live out her retirement in peace.

[wryter2000]

11. Thanks

I've seen posts that claimed she was some kind of traitor to retire. I shouldn't be surprised...you see just about everything if you hang out here long enough. :)

[deadparrot]

12. I know how you feel.

Gets a little crazy around here sometimes. :hi:

[spooky3]

15. I'm sorry you lost your husband.

[bunny planet]

14. That's just what I was thinking. I don't think she wants to go off the

court knowing her replacement will set woman's rights back to the dark ages. Didn't she stipulate that she had adopted a wait and see attitude about who her replacement would be. I seem to remember something like that.

[Nikki Stone 1]

8. What a shame she had to retire

:(

[PDittie]

13. We must turn back this nominee

and we must not fail to do so.

[welshTerrier2]

16. bush wanted civil war over this nominee

we heard all the noise over the Miers nomination from the extreme right-wingers of bush's party ... and of course, they'll be happy as clams over Alito's nomination ...

but bush has seen a rift building in his own party ... it's not clear how long people like McCain and Specter will stay onboard ... but if bush can provoke an all out war with the Democrats, i think he may be able to hold his coalition together ...

republicans may have been developing a bit of independence from the WH but they will not become so independent that they would side with Democrats in an all out war ... at least that's what i think the calculation was on nominating Alito ...

[LiberalPartisan]

17. Maybe Rove

could come up with such a plan but definitely not boozer bush.

[welshTerrier2]

18. Rover ...

welcome to DU, LiberalPartisan !!

interesting point ... of course, Rover is still there ... more and more, i've come to see the Miers' nomination as a total fraud ... she just wasn't qualified ... i think she was a dual purpose smokescreen ...

1. appear to be supporting a woman and a somewhat moderate type to create the image of wanting to replace O'Connor with a similar personality and
2. distract, distract, distract from the whole leak scandal ...

they never intended to let Miers become a justice on the SC ... and surprise, surprise, surprise - the first morning of the first weekday after Fitzgerald hands down his indictments, we're given a nice, shiny new nominee ...

smells like Rover's poop to me ...

[Festivito]

19. O'Conner found Alito's position repugnant. ..chuckler..

Would a wife-beater have to be notified while a woman is running away from him, pregnant, on the run -- according to Alito?