SCOTUSBlog<\/a> on cases of nominations in lame duck years.<\/p>\nOK, maybe this isn\u2019t a \u201cthought\u201d but I\u2019ll keep it as the first item on the list.<\/p>\n
2. \u00a0I don\u2019t really have any strong opinions on whether precendent supports the calls for the GOP to refuse to approve an Obama nominee. \u00a0Certainly, I\u2019ve read that Chuck Schumer is on record as having said, in 2007, that he supported his party doing exactly that if the shoe were on the other foot. \u00a0Bush had gotten his two \u201calloted\u201d nominations and wasn\u2019t going to get any more; certainly the Democrats weren\u2019t going to stand for a trade of a conservative for a liberal, even if they might tolerate a conservative for a conservative \u201ceven trade.\u201d \u00a0In November 1987, Reagan nominated and in February 1988, a Democratic Senate approved Anthony Kennedy \u2014 but this was only after a protracted drama when Reagan\u2019s first nominee, in July, Robert Bork, was rejected.<\/p>\n
So you could make arguements either way: \u00a0either it\u2019s just the Republicans\u2019 bad luck, but they should suck it up; or it\u2019s simply common sense that no one president should get more than two picks, or should not have the privilege to \u201cchange the balance\u201d by appointing a liberal to replace a conservative, or the reverse. \u00a0Everything I\u2019ve read (though I haven\u2019t read much) takes it for granted that no nominee will get through, and that potential nominations would be made with an eye to the sort of person (a black woman?) whose rejection would most rile up the base, not what nomination would be most acceptable to the GOP.<\/p>\n
3. \u00a0Regardless of of the lame-duckness, the bigger issue is that any justice coming in now has a clear view of what cases are going to be heard, to say nothing of those cases that have already been heard in oral arguments. \u00a0Indeed, several of the highest-profile cases are cases in which the administration is directly involved \u2014 whether its religous accomodation for the Little Sisters is sufficient, and whether the President exceeded his authority in declaring de facto amnesty for the 5 million. \u00a0This means that, in these circumstances, for the President to nominate a justice, and for the Senate to approve based on a liberal basis of judging competency and experience only, subverts the checks and balances of our system, since the President would be able to directly impact the Court\u2019s decision \u2014 and it\u2019s preposterous to imagine that Obama would select anyone<\/em> if he wasn\u2019t entirely certain they would vote his way on these specific, already-known cases. \u00a0Which means that, everything else aside, no such newly-appointed justice would have any business voting on these cases \u2014 they\u2019d have to basically recuse themselves from every decision this term, except, if any exist, cases on which Obama is demonstrably indifferent.<\/p>\n4. \u00a0None of this would be an issue if there weren\u2019t so many cases that are so very partisan, and so legislative<\/em> in nature, being decided at the Supreme Court level \u2014 both due to executive branch overreach, the finding and deliniating of unwritten \u201crights\u201d, interpretation of law based seemingly in desired outcome rather than faithfulness to process and interpretation of text, and ongoing disputes of other kinds.<\/p>\n5. \u00a0If we have a de facto rule that each president gets two picks, or only gets to replace like with like, then maybe we need to move this a formal rule \u2014 perhaps not of \u201clike with like\u201d but with a fixed number of picks \u2014 say, one or two per term. \u00a0Of course, this would have to be paired with a maximum number of years of service for justice, so that, for the most part, openings are more predictable. \u00a0Yeah, we\u2019d need an amendment \u2014 but if we could amend the constitution to permit voting at age 18, for instance, or some of the other more recent amendments, why should this be so impossible?<\/p>\n
Bonus thought: \u00a0there are now speculations out there that Scalia was killed. \u00a0Reportedly, he was found with a pillow over his head, and the rush to bury without an autopsy was suspicious. \u00a0Have you heard this? \u00a0Do you think there is even the remotest chance of this being true?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Image: \u00a0the Supreme Court Building, from Wikipedia.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Back from a long-weekend visit back to my parents, with no blogging despite the multiple bloggable events. 1. \u00a0Three links: Slate.com\u2018s summary of the impact of an 8-8 court on the major pending case of this term \u2014 Little Sisters, DAPA, etc. Second, a Detroit News article that, regardless of \u201clame duck\u201d issues, it\u2019s exceedingly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":3889,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[321],"class_list":["post-3888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n