Conservatives Win, Religious Right Lose

Posted at 9:14 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2006, in Uncategorized.

Today’s Supreme Court decision upholding Oregon’s assisted-suicide law is a victory on many fronts, for liberals and constitutional constructionists. The only loser is the religious right; one of their leaders brought the case…

Tuesday’s decision is a reprimand of sorts for [former Attorney General John] Ashcroft. [Justice Anthony] Kennedy said the “authority claimed by the attorney general is both beyond his expertise and incongruous with the statutory purposes and design.”

“The authority desired by the government is inconsistent with the design of the statute in other fundamental respects. The attorney general does not have the sole delegated authority under the (law),” Kennedy wrote.

[...]

The ruling backed a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Ashcroft’s “unilateral attempt to regulate general medical practices historically entrusted to state lawmakers interferes with the democratic debate about physician-assisted suicide.”

Ashcroft had brought the case to the Supreme Court on the day his resignation was announced by the White House in 2004. The Justice Department has continued the case under the leadership of his successor, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Source: CBS News

Whether you agree with Oregon’s law or not, I’m sure we all concur that it is Oregon’s law; it’s a matter for the state courts. Question: How does this jibe the Supreme Court’s recent ruling trouncing the right of California to legalize medicinal marijuana? Answer: It doesn’t.

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