FLEISCHER DUCKS ON LAWRENCE v. TEXAS

Transcript's not up yet, but according to the video tape, in reaction to a question on Lawrence v. Texas, Ari Fleischer said that the administration "did not file a brief" in the case and "this is now a state matter."

THIS IS NOW A STATE MATTER? What is Ari Fleischer saying: that states can overturn Supreme Court rulings? How dare he even imply that the Supreme Court's decisions could be overturned by states. How could this be a "state matter" -- this is clearly an oblique reference to "states' rights" -- since the Court has now, by a 6 to 3 vote, struck down a state law as unconstitutional?

Think I'm reading too much into this statement? If so, good. I almost titled this post "Fleischer encourages state resistance of Supreme Court," or "Fleischer rips up Cooper v. Aaron," but thought that would be irresponsible.

For the record, I like the result in the case. See the helpful comments by Professor Lawrence Solum at Legal Theory Blog. See also Josh's thoughtful comments at Oxblog.

And if you're puzzled at the context for this comment see my posts on Gephardt here, here, and here.

MORE: Transcript's up. See my post above.