Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia on Monday defended comparing gay sex to murder.
Speaking at Princeton University to promote his book, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts, Scalia was asked by a gay student about his previous controversial writings on gay rights.
His form of argument, Scalia answered, was "reduction to the absurd."
"If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?" Scalia asked. He added that he was not equating sodomy with murder but drawing parallels between laws which ban both, the AP reported.
Scalia's comments come as the high court prepares to hear two cases on marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
(Related: Supreme Court to hear gay marriage-related Prop 8, DOMA cases.)
In October, Scalia, considered one of the court's most conservative justices, suggested he would vote against marriage equality.
Scalia told a few hundred people at the American Enterprise Institute that he applies the words in the U.S. Constitution as they were understood by its authors.
Using his "textualist" method makes ruling on some of today's hot button issues easy, he said.
"The death penalty? Give me a break. It's easy. Abortion? Absolutely easy. Nobody ever thought the Constitution prevented restrictions on abortion. Homosexual sodomy? Come on. For 200 years, it was a crime in every state," said Scalia, who was appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Speaking at Princeton University to promote his book, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts, Scalia was asked by a gay student about his previous controversial writings on gay rights.
His form of argument, Scalia answered, was "reduction to the absurd."
"If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?" Scalia asked. He added that he was not equating sodomy with murder but drawing parallels between laws which ban both, the AP reported.
Scalia's comments come as the high court prepares to hear two cases on marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
(Related: Supreme Court to hear gay marriage-related Prop 8, DOMA cases.)
In October, Scalia, considered one of the court's most conservative justices, suggested he would vote against marriage equality.
Scalia told a few hundred people at the American Enterprise Institute that he applies the words in the U.S. Constitution as they were understood by its authors.
Using his "textualist" method makes ruling on some of today's hot button issues easy, he said.
"The death penalty? Give me a break. It's easy. Abortion? Absolutely easy. Nobody ever thought the Constitution prevented restrictions on abortion. Homosexual sodomy? Come on. For 200 years, it was a crime in every state," said Scalia, who was appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine
