Scalia draws parallels — and media attention

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Justice Antonin Scalia is drawing a lot of media attention for comments he made this week as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear two same-sex marriage law challenges.

During an appearance at Princeton University on Monday, Scalia was asked by a gay student why he compares laws barring sodomy to those barring bestiality.

Scalia replied that he has drawn parallels, not comparisons, to make a point. “I don’t think it’s necessary, but I think it’s effective,” Scalia said according to several news organizations, including CBS News. “It’s a form of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called the ‘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?”

The comments are drawing wide attention as they come just days after the Court agreed to consider the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act as well as California’s voter-instituted law barring recognition of same-sex marriage in that state.