HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Should the Supreme Court Allow Us to "Go to Hell"?

Views: 653
“If my fellow citizens want to go to Hell, I will help them," Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes Jr. famously wrote. Added Holmes, "It’s my job.”

During his talk at Reason Weekend in Santa Barbara, Damon Root, senior editor of Reason magazine and author of "Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court", contrasts Justice Holmes' influential legal philosophy with a new wave of contemporary libertarian jurisprudence.

Justice Holmes' persuasive case for judicial restraint is being carried into the 21st century by Chief Justice John Roberts. This view sees the Court tending to defer to the moral authority of democratic majorities and their elected representatives. For example, Obamacare survived a Constitutional challenge in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius precisely because of Roberts' willingness to yield to the will of legislatures. "It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices," he wrote in his majority opinion.

While Roberts makes the case for judicial deference, libertarian jurists advocate defiance. In this view, attorneys like Alan Gura and Randy Barnett argue that the Constitution should prevail over the majority vote. The court's job is to protect people from the consequences of their own choices, if those choices violate the Constitution.

At Reason Weekend, Reason Foundation's annual donor event, Damon Root discussed how these conflicting judicial philosophies have played out in a variety of historically important cases. From Kelo v. City of New London to District of Columbia v. Heller, those who take the deferential side view libertarian legal theory as undemocratic. While libertarians often regard judicial deference as unconstitutional.

It's a debate that's nearly as old as the Constitution itself.

Runs about 17 minutes.

Produced by Todd Krainin. Cameras by Zach Weissmueller and Alex Manning.

Go to http://reason.com/reasontv/2015/04/23/liberty-vs-democracy-at-the-supreme-cour for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for Is Free Speech Under Attack in America?30:20
Is Free Speech Under Attack in America?
ReasonVids
895 views
Thumbnail for A Great Year For Pot, Freedom, and Ending the Drug War: Q&A with MPP's Rob Kampia5:10
A Great Year For Pot, Freedom, and Ending the Drug War: Q&A with MPP's Rob Kampia
ReasonVids
917 views
Thumbnail for Richard Epstein on Barack Obama, his former Chicago Law Colleague12:31
Richard Epstein on Barack Obama, his former Chicago Law Colleague
ReasonVids
1023 views
Thumbnail for Want to Buy Stock in Your Corner Bistro? The Gov't Opens Venture Capital Markets to the Masses3:23
Want to Buy Stock in Your Corner Bistro? The Gov't Opens Venture Capital Markets to the Masses
ReasonVids
909 views
Thumbnail for The Unseen War on American Farms5:29
The Unseen War on American Farms
ReasonVids
917 views
Thumbnail for Rand Paul: "I'd put Clapper and Snowden in the same jail cell"2:36
Rand Paul: "I'd put Clapper and Snowden in the same jail cell"
ReasonVids
840 views
Thumbnail for The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin: Q&A with Filmmakers Nicholas and Dan Mross8:10
The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin: Q&A with Filmmakers Nicholas and Dan Mross
ReasonVids
801 views
Thumbnail for Peter Schiff on the Dismal Future of the U.S. Economy5:19
Peter Schiff on the Dismal Future of the U.S. Economy
ReasonVids
872 views
Thumbnail for 5 Facts About Govt Spending: Nick Gillespie at Reason Weekend 201238:27
5 Facts About Govt Spending: Nick Gillespie at Reason Weekend 2012
ReasonVids
864 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: Happy Thanksgiving!4:09
Stossel: Happy Thanksgiving!
ReasonVids
672 views
Thumbnail for Timothy P. Carney on "Obamanomics": Crony Capitalism as Progressive Reform8:52
Timothy P. Carney on "Obamanomics": Crony Capitalism as Progressive Reform
ReasonVids
893 views
Thumbnail for Is Giving Money Directly to the Poor a Good Idea?8:21
Is Giving Money Directly to the Poor a Good Idea?
ReasonVids
807 views
Thumbnail for Inside the World’s Densest City | The B1M16:55
Inside the World’s Densest City | The B1M
invidious
84 views
Thumbnail for Steve Forbes Explains Trump's Appeal15:19
Steve Forbes Explains Trump's Appeal
ReasonVids
958 views
Thumbnail for Girl shooting competition 0:22
Girl shooting competition
AOUisgay
245 views
Thumbnail for High School Journalism Teacher Suspended After Standing Up for Student Reporters' Free Speech Rights7:05
High School Journalism Teacher Suspended After Standing Up for Student Reporters' Free Speech Rights
ReasonVids
891 views
Thumbnail for Click It or Ticket: Get Ready for Seat Belt Checkpoints! (Don't cops have better things to do?!)2:02
Click It or Ticket: Get Ready for Seat Belt Checkpoints! (Don't cops have better things to do?!)
ReasonVids
842 views
Thumbnail for Hamilton Morris Is Changing the Way We Talk About Drugs28:27
Hamilton Morris Is Changing the Way We Talk About Drugs
ReasonVids
833 views
Thumbnail for Bitcoin and the End of History15:56
Bitcoin and the End of History
ReasonVids
707 views
Thumbnail for Pork Party House: Where DC insiders go for taxpayer-subsidized fun6:24
Pork Party House: Where DC insiders go for taxpayer-subsidized fun
ReasonVids
956 views
Thumbnail for How Housing Policy Caused the Financial Crisis5:46
How Housing Policy Caused the Financial Crisis
ReasonVids
827 views
Thumbnail for Horrific Side Effects From the Covid Jab It’s making this woman melt.2:47
Horrific Side Effects From the Covid Jab It’s making this woman melt.
bestofsaidit
662 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarianism (political ideology), reason (magazine), antonin scalia (judge), clarence thomas (judge), anthony kennedy, supreme court of the united states (court)
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle