In Ghostbusters, the evil Gozer asks the heroic quartet to “Choose! Choose the form of the Destructor!” Of course, Ray thinks of the Stay Puft-Marshmallow Man. After that it gets fluffy. It’s an odd question to ask how you should be destroyed.
Today at One First Street in Kansas v. Cheever, Justice Sotomayor asked Neal Katyal a similar question:
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: Mr. Katyal, assuming the incredulity of my colleagues continues with your argument, which way would you rather lose?
(Laughter.)
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: On a waiver theory or on a lack of compulsion theory? And pick one and tell us the reason why that’s preferable to the other.
I hope Katyal kept his mind clear of any images of a Godzilla-sized Scalia tearing through the streets of New York, smashing all substantive due process.