Posted on 01/16/2006 5:03:13 PM PST by motife
Rush said several times last week that confirming Alito changes the balance of the court from 5-4 to 6-3.
Alito is replacing Sandra Day O'Connor one of the 5-4 majority. The balance is not changing.
We can only hope Stevens and/or Ginsberg retire in the next 2 and 1/2 years. I would not be surprised though that as partisan as they are, they will not.
Here are the ages of the current court, including Alito, how long they've served, and who appointed them :
Liberals :
John Paul Stevens, appointed by Gerald Ford, court term began 12/19/1975. Born Chicago, IL 4/20/1920. Confirmed by 99-0 vote. Probably most liberal member of the court. Particularly bitter opinion in Bush v. Gore. Aged 85. Has been on the court 30 years.
David Souter, appointed by George H.W. Bush, court term began 10/9/1990. Born Melrose, MA 9/17/1939. Confirmed by 90-9 vote. MOST disappointing choice for Republicans. Aged 66. Has been on the court 15 years.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed by Clinton, court term began 8/10/1993. Born Brooklyn, NY 3/15/1933. Confirmed by 97-3 vote. Aged 72. Has been on the court 12 years.
Stephen Breyer, appointed by Clinton, court term began 8/2/1994. Born San Francisco, CA 8/15/1938. Confirmed by 87-9 vote. Aged 67. Has been on the court 11 years.
Conservatives :
Antonin Scalia, appointed by Reagan, court term began 9/26/1986. Born Trenton, NJ 3/11/1936. Without question the best Supreme Court Justice, among the best ever. Has started a multi-generational movement in law not unlike Reagan has in the GOP. One of Reagan's great legacies to the nation. Confirmed by 98-0 vote. Aged 69. Has been on the court 19 years.
Anthony Kennedy, appointed by Reagan, court term began 2/11/1988. Born Sacramento, CA 7/23/1936. Could have had Robert Bork who along with Scalia and Rehnquist would have made a epic court. Kennedy has been by and large a conservative vote, although not 100% reliable. Confirmed by 97-0 vote. Aged 69. Has been on the court 17 years.
Clarence Thomas, appointed by G.H.W. Bush, court term began 10/23/1991. Born near Savannah, GA 6/23/1948. Taciturn, but rock solid for the right. Confirmed by razor thin 52-48 vote. Aged 57. Has been on the court 14 years.
John Roberts, appointed by G.W. Bush, court term began 9/29/2005. Born Buffalo, NY 1/27/1955. Confirmed by 78-22 vote. Aged (next week) 51 years. Chief Justice.
Samuel Alito, appointed by G.W. Bush. Born, like Scalia, Trenton, NJ 4/1/1950. Appears like Roberts to be an excellent choice for the right and youthful for a justice. Aged 55.
'swhy I said, even with all of W's foibles, 2 new conservative justices are quite an accomplishment.
We can only hope that someone will throw a bucket of water on Ginsberg during a session and she will melt like the wicked witch of the east.
some of the DU'ers are convinced Stevens will retire, and therefore they should save the filibuster till then. One can only hope....
Amen!
Her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, had a house fall on her.
John Paul Stevens, appointed by Republican Gerald Ford...
David Souter, appointed by "Republican George H.W. Bush...
Accidents?? Who actually believes neither Ford or Bush knew what that were doing?
Now how many of you out there still don't buy into the New World Order theory??
A "balanced" SCOTUS is good for a weak America, and thus a NWO.
A strong SCOTUS is good for a strong sovereign America.
Right now it's questionable whether Roe V Wade can be overturned -- or many other conservative issues...because of Justice Kennedy's "moderate" beliefs.
Sandra Day O'Connor has not been a reliable vote in recent years. She has always been liberal on abortion issues.
I say this with the hopefull understanding that Roberts and Alito are BOTH conservative in the mold of Thomas and Scalia.
Wrong Kennedy
I wasn't quite sure which witch was which.
That's closer to my recollection of Rush's comments. Fact is, the SC will still be 4-5, with conservatives still on the short end, on important property and regulatory issues. For example, the 5-member majority in the Kelo v. New London decision that approves eminent domain powers to take property for private use (meaning any taking by eminent domain is, by definition, a public use) will still be intact after Judge Alito is confirmed. It's the next appointee, not this one, that will be significant. Justice Kennedy will be the swing vote now, just as he was on Kelo.
Completely agree.
They both came to a well-deserved end. :-)
Well then, come on death!
Will the NWO overlords "permit" a liberal SC justice OR the moderate Kennedy to be replaced by a conservative?
They spoke Gulluh ... a very old, rather melodic dialect spoken by blacks on the sea islands off the Georgia Coast.IMHO some of Justice Thomas' reticence can probably be accredited to plain ol' shyness ... which is neither a sin nor a shame. He is well spoken ... when he speaks ... and is well worth listening to.
It will take one more appointment after Alito to overturn Roe, Casey, Kelo, etc.
That nomination process will make Gettysburg seem like a lovers spat outside the Pink Flamingo.
T'wit, below is an excerpt from Rush's Jan. 12 show:
This court thing, folks. For all the talk about the security and the NSA thing and the Abu Ghraib and all, that's nothing compared to what this means to them, and that's why they have lost it and become unhinged, because this court is about to become a 6-3 court. The Roberts court is going to become a 6-3 court. It isn't going to be a 5-4 court. It may be on a couple of issues. Obviously it will. But the Roberts court will become a 6-3 court, and then you know what happens when liberals are on the losing side of things, ah, it's not any fun. What will Ruth "Buzzi" Ginsburg do? What will John Paul Stevens do? What will Breyer do? What will Souter do? What will they do? Are they going to want to hang around and be on the losing side of every case, or a majority of cases? What are they going to do? What are they going to do when their quest to look to foreign law blows up on them, because Alito's dealt with that just like John Roberts did in his hearings. It isn't going to happen.
Combine these guys with Scalia and Clarence Thomas. There will be another nominee, is my point, and they will lose that. They are going to lose that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.