"The Court today finds that the Powers That Be, up in Albany, have conspired to effect an establishment of the Satmar Hasidim. I do not know who would be more surprised at this discovery: the Founders of our Nation or Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, founder of the Satmar. The Grand Rebbe would be astounded to learn that after escaping brutal persecution and coming to America with the modest hope of religious toleration for their ascetic form of Judaism, the Satmar had become so powerful, so closely allied with Mammon, as to have become an establishment of the Empire State. And the Founding Fathers would be astonished to find that the Establishment Clause — which they designed to insure that no one powerful sect or combination of sects could use political or governmental power to punish dissenters — has been employed to prohibit characteristically and admirably American accommodation of the religious practices (or more precisely, cultural peculiarities) of a tiny minority sect. I, however, am not surprised. Once this Court has abandoned text and history as guides, nothing prevents it from calling religious toleration the establishment of religion."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United StatesJudges from the United StatesLawyers from the United StatesCatholics from the United StatesPeople from Trenton
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel v. Grumet (1994) (dissenting) (citations and some internal quotation marks omitted).
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia (March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who served for 29 years, from 1986 until his death. He was appointed to the Court by U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
114 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Antonin Scalia →
Related Quotes
"I define speech as any communicative activity. [Can it be nonverbal?] Yes. [Can it be nonverbal and also not written?…"
"In law school, I never understood [antitrust law]. I later found out, in reading the writings of those who now do und…"
"Frequently an issue of this sort will come before the Court clad, so to speak, in sheep's clothing: the potential of …"
"Evidently, the governing standard is to be what might be called the unfettered wisdom of a majority of this Court, re…"
"How frightening it must be to have your own independent counsel and staff appointed, with nothing else to do but to i…"
"Those who believe that racial preferences can help to 'even the score' display, and reinforce, a manner of thinking a…"
"Justice White's conclusion is perhaps correct, if one assumes that the task of a court of law is to plumb the intent …"
"We reject the dissent's contention that our approach, by "largely return[ing] the task of defining the contours of Ei…"
"The outcome of today's case will doubtless be heralded as a triumph of judicial statesmanship. It is not that, unless…"
"This case, involving legal requirements for the content and labeling of meat products such as frankfurters, affords a…"