Alan J. Borsuk – Page 131 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Constitutional View, Not Catholicism, Behind Scalia’s Opinions on Abortion

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 23, 2009
Post category:Constitutional Interpretation Marquette Law School Speakers at Marquette U.S. Supreme Court

As a Catholic whose views are in line with those of Pope Benedict XVI, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia personally opposes abortion.

But what explains his opinions in every abortion-related case that has come to the court since Scalia became a justice in 1986 is not his Catholicism but his “originalist” interpretation of the US Constitution, the author of a new biography of Scalia said Monday.

Speaking at an “On the Issues” forum at Marquette Law School, Joan Biskupic told host Mike Gousha that Scalia has “parallel passions,” Catholicism and the law.

”You just cannot forget that he’s so darned conservative on the Constitution, independent of his Catholicism,“ Biskupic said. Scalia simply does not see anything in the text of the Constitution that supports giving a woman a right to have an abortion.

Biskupic said she found in researching Scalia’s life that his views on the Constitution have been consistent for all his adult life. People she talked to from each stage of his life described him as an originalist.

Biskupic described Scalia as a “many-layered” person.

An Academic Expert Weighs in for Mayoral School Control

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 17, 2009
Post category:Education & Law Milwaukee

Professor Kenneth K. Wong of Brown University and several associates put out a book two years ago titled “The Education Mayor: Improving America’s Schools,” which immediately became the book to read if you were interested in mayoral control of public schools. And Wong is probably the number one figure in academic research about how mayoral control works.

The book was the most thorough examination of the results of efforts to give mayors control – or at least strong roles – in schools in dozens of cities across the United States. And there was something in it for pretty much everybody – supporters of mayoral control focused on conclusions about greater administrative effectiveness in such systems, critics pointed to conclusions that the impact on academic achievement had been generally small in most cities.

But Wong was in Milwaukee this week and, in a presentation to about 25 people at the Milwaukee Athletic Club, came down firmly on the side of mayoral control, including in Milwaukee. In his talk and in an interview following his talk, Wong said data that have come in since the book was written has been increasingly encouraging for mayoral control advocates.

Feingold: Sept. 11 Prosecutions Will Advance Justice and American World Standing

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:November 13, 2009
Post category:International Law & Diplomacy Speakers at Marquette U.S. Supreme Court

The decision to prosecute five people accused of involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in federal court in New York drew support Friday from US Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) in comments at a one-hour discussion at Marquette University Law School.

“That’s the way to go,” said Feingold, who has been highly critical of the long confinement, without trial, of the suspects at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

At the same time, US Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced that several other suspected terrorists will be tried in military courts. That group includes Ad Al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who allegedly planned another major attack, the bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole in 2000 in Yemen.

The decisions to go the two different routes in the cases will provide an interesting opportunity to compare civil and military handling of cases of this kind, Feingold told Mike Gousha, who moderated the session and who is a distinguished fellow in law and public policy at the Law School.

Feingold said bringing the Sept. 11 suspects, including Khalid Shaikh Muhammed, who has claimed he masterminded the attacks, into civil courts and allowing the justice system to proceed to a verdict on their cases is the appropriate course, said Feingold, a member of the Senate’s Judiciary Committee. “This advances not only our legal system, but our credibility in the world,” he said.