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Yesterday, as I was driving to the Obama Rally at Gilly's in Dallas, I heard Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on the radio.

Scalia was saying that it was not unconstitutional to torture during interrogation. According to Scalia, the Constitution only prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. He interprets this to mean that only during the punishment phase is torture prohibited.

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I'm no constitutional scholar. I don't even have a law degree. But even I know that this statement is patently false. The Constitution does not allow torture during any phase. To allow it during interrogation is not a slippery slope, it is a cliff that goes right off into an abyss of darkness.

It is no secret that there have in the not so distant past been problems with confessions being beaten out of suspects by police. Quite often these turn out to be false. When Barack Obama was in the Illinois Legislature, he worked to get a bill passed that required video of interrogations and confessions because the problem was so wide spread. Were Scalia to get his way, Obama's efforts will have been for naught.

As a Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia has the power within his reach to alter what is acceptable practice. He has the power to make his statements the law of the land. Talk about legislating from the bench!

Maybe we should all chip in to get Scalia a refresher course on the Constitution.



Amy Manuel

What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.

Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous.

Good thing we've still got politics in Texas -- finest form of free entertainment ever invented.
--Molly Ivins (August 30, 1944 - January 31, 2007)