Pat Buchanan, in an attempt to become the ur-Conservative, assails Brown v Board of Education. While some criticize Brown over its reliance on social research rather than Constitutional arguments such as Justice Harlan's dissent to Plessy v Ferguson, Buchanan appears to criticize it for overturning Plessy and segregation:
But that May day in 1954, the Warren Court crossed a historic divide. It had executed, in the name of the 14th Amendment, a coup d'etat. It had usurped power over state schools that had never been granted to federal courts either in law or the Constitution.Ah, the good old days.... Posted by Kevin Murphy at May 18, 2004 04:09 PM | TrackBack
The 14th Amendment had been approved by the same Congress that presided over the segregated schools of D.C. Thus it was obvious to all that that amendment did not outlaw what its authors had approved. But the Warren Court, impatient at the torpor of the democratic process, had established itself as a dictatorship of nine judges, and ordered the nation to do as it demanded.
Somebody should point out to Pat Buchanan that the District of Columbia is not now, nor has it ever been, a state. Therefore, the 14th Amendment does not apply to it, by its terms. [Post-Brown courts have found fancy ways to make it apply, though.]
Posted by: Xrlq at May 19, 2004 05:26 PM