[ Originally published on April 23rd, 2014 ]
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Speaking at the University of Tennessee College of Law [UT] on April 15th, 2014, the longest-serving U.S. Supreme Court Justice that is currently on the bench was asked by a student about the constitutionality of the income tax.
Scalia
responded
that the government has the right to implement the tax,
“but
if it reaches a certain point, perhaps you should revolt.”
The
Justice
was invited by the UT law school to present its annual “Rose
Lecture,” and discussed events throughout his career such as his
1989
decision
to rule with the majority that flag burning was constitutionally
protected speech. Scalia
was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by then-current
U.S.
President
Ronald
Reagan
in 1986.
“You’re
entitled to criticize the government, and you can use words, you
can use symbols, you can use telegraph, you can use Morse code, you
can burn a flag,”
Scalia
told the standing-room-only crowd.
Scalia
said that the Justices
aren’t swayed by partisan political spats, and that he doesn’t
care which party controls the White House. He also expressed his
theory of originalism,
that the U.S. Constitution is a fixed
law and is not
open to evolution or change over time.
“The
Constitution is not a living organism, for Pete’s sake,”
the Justice
said, according to the report, adding:
“It’s
a law. It means what it
meant when it was adopted.”
Stay conscious my friends.
~ Merit Freeman
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