Biden: Right-wing domination would be a 'disaster'

I can't be the only person listening to today's Roberts hearings who found the opening statement by Sen. Joe Biden inspiring.

Our constitutional journey did not stop with women barred from being lawyers, with 10-year-olds working in coal mines, or with black kids forced into different schools than white kids just because the Constitution nowhere mentions "sex discrimination," "child labor," or "segregated education."

Our constitutional journey did not stop then and it must not stop now, Judge. And we'll be faced with equally consequential decisions in the 21st century. Can a microscopic tag be implanted in a person's body to track his every movement? There's actual discussion about that. You will rule on that -- mark my words -- before your tenure is over. Can brain scans be used to determine whether a person's inclined toward criminality or violent behavior? You will rule on that.

And, Judge, I need to know whether you will be a justice who believes that the constitutional journey must continue to speak to these consequential decisions or that we've gone far enough in protecting against government intrusion into our autonomy into the most personal decisions we make.

(Updated from the full transcript of the hearings.)