If Scalia Were King, He’d Jail Every Flag-burning ‘Weirdo’

[Geee]

Townhall:

Antonin Scalia gives the best rants. The always outspoken conservative Supreme Court justice participated in a Union League event at Princeton University Wednesday, where he was asked about some of the more controversial cases he and his fellow justices have had to consider over their tenure. Of particular interest was Texas v. Johnson, a 1989 decision in which the Court upheld that Americans had the right to burn the American flag under the First Amendment.

 

Scalia explained that he begrudgingly voted in favor of Gregory Lee Johnson, an activist who had burned the flag in protest of President Ronald Reagan’s policies, placing the Constitution above his personal views.

 

“If it were up to me, I would put in jail every sandal-wearing, scruffy-bearded weirdo who burns the American flag,” Scalia said. “But I am not king.”

 

Scalia made it clear that he does not believe in a “living constitution” and that he takes umbrage at those who try to reinterpret or add to its original meaning.

 

“There are some wonderful decisions that have been made by an overreaching Supreme Court. That doesn’t mean they’re right,” Scalia said.