Supreme Court Upholds Death With Dignity

Today the Supreme Court upheld Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, or more accurately, upheld the 9th Circuit's ruling on a permanent injunction against the Justice Dept. The Court held that the actions of AG John Ashcroft in issuing an Interpretive Rule under the Controlled Substances Act that the use of controlled substances to assist suicide was not a legitimate medical practice exceeded the scope of CSA and the AG's authority. The Act does not specify what legitimate medical practices are nor does it give the AG the authority to decide what they are.

"The Government, in the end, maintains that the prescription requirement delegates to a single Executive officer the power to effect a radical shift of authority from the States to the Federal Government to define general standards of medical practice in every locality." The text and structure of the Act do not show this. "Affirmed"

Thomas in his dissent is somewhat measured noting that CSA's broad reach and the AG's authority under it may be "troubling" it is "water over the dam" in view of Raich. Oddly enough he protests the application of the Commerce Clause in precendents and then goes along with GWB.

Scalia on the other hand has no qualms whatever, the AG has the authority to determine legitimate medical practice, what affects general health and safety, and that by parroting a section of an Act he can then essentially make law.

Roberts also dissented without opinion.

So GWB and the "Conservatives" who want nothing to do with activist judges praise and laud judges who create powers for the AG that Congress did not. Hmmmm....

The full decision and dissents can be found in pdf at

http://wid.ap.org/scotus/results_recent.asp , that is an underline between results_recent.