The present wingnut outcry about the administration’s use of preemption to work against Arizona’s discriminatory use of law enforcement should be the subject of cartoonists. In the administration from Hell – though that’s not fair to Hell, where reputedly you only get punished for actual sins – the attempt to bring Federal Law to override state laws was an attempt to weaken individual rights to bring suit against pharmaceutical firms that did them harm.

In that instance, the previous Department of Injustice sought to get the Supreme Court to rule that the weakened Federal statutes should prevail, since many states gave their own citizens the right to file suits for damages. The 2001 – 2008 administration was the protector and defender of corporate rights against individuals, and stood up for drugmaker Wyeth. In that instance, in 2006, the Supremes actually got it right and upheld states’ rights to protect their citizens.

A Vermont jury awarded Levine $6.7 million in damages, and the Vermont Supreme Court upheld the decision in 2006. But Wyeth appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has now weighed in, putting the matter to rest.

The three justices who ruled against Levine were John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, and Samuel Alito, Jr., who penned the dissenting opinion. "[I]t is odd (to say the least) that a jury in Vermont can now order for Phenergan what the FDA has chosen not to order for mustard gas," Alito wrote.

Can’t you imagine what the present coathanger court will do with this precedent? Of course, Justice Kennedy seems to have been preempted by his winger colleagues and given over any consideration of individual rights. That he will join in any decision of the Robertian Scalitos is practically a certainty, and Justice Thomas has no use for dark skinned citizens.

They can rule against Arizona because that state’s law usurps the federal government’s role in handling its borders, and once again break court precedent by reversing the earlier ruling that it is constitutional for state law to prevail. They can rule for Arizona because the precedent was set by this court previously, and watch the entire Latino community enraged at court-ordered discrimination. They can rule in other words, of course, but that will be the effect in either case.

This court does more damage every day to the Rule of Law. I expect discrimination against dark skins to be approved, but would love to be proved wrong.