Hell Hath No Fury Like Justice Scalia... Vindicated?

When is Justice Scalia not happy to be proven correct?

[Victories for same-sex marriage] will keep happening. And someday soon, Justice Scalia will have the chance to deliver the most vitriolic ‘I told you so’ in recent Supreme Court memory.

Jesse Wegman, a member of the New York Times Editorial Board, discussing how prescient Justice Antonin Scalia has been on the issue of marriage equality.

(Additional notable quotes and links, after the jump.)

Over the past few days, since the big (but imperfect) ruling that struck down Virginia’s ban on gay marriage, a number of articles have appeared that analyze how the marriage equality movement has fared in the courts so far. Adam Liptak had a piece, also in the Times, that contained this great quotation:

Rapid changes in public opinion are also playing a part, said Andrew M. Koppelman, a law professor at Northwestern. “It is becoming increasingly clear to judges that if they rule against same-sex marriage their grandchildren will regard them as bigots,” he said.

Indeed. Although LGBT communities remain persecuted around the world, in places like Russia and much of Africa, there’s probably no turning back the tide of equality here in the United States.

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That’s also the conclusion of David S. Cohen and Dahlia Lithwick, who offer this observation over at Slate:

Since [the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v.] Windsor, in these 18 decisions, 32 different judges have considered whether Windsor is merely about the relationship between the state and federal governments or whether it is about equality. And all 32 of them have found for equality. In other words, 32 accomplished, intelligent lawyers, appointed by Democrats and Republicans, whose job it is to read precedent, have ruled for equality. Not a single one has disagreed.

In other words, the lower courts have sided with Justice Scalia, who in his dissent read Windsor as a ruling about equality, rather than Chief Justice Roberts, who in his dissent read Windsor as a ruling about federalism.

Justice Scalia is usually happy to be right — but maybe not this time around.

Scalia Has Seen the Future, and Its Name Is Marriage Equality [Taking Note / New York Times]
A Steady Path to Supreme Court as Gay Marriage Gains Momentum in States [New York Times]
Inside the Iron Closet: What It’s Like to Be Gay in Putin’s Russia [GQ]
It’s Over: Gay Marriage Can’t Lose in the Courts [Slate]

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