[mabelkitty]

Not so.
There are judges sitting there right now who rule based on a potential pick for a higher bench. That is nothing new.

There is no reason, other than politics, to hide potential nominees to the Supreme Court.

[zedee]

There are judges sitting there right now who rule based on a potential pick for a higher bench. That is nothing new.

There is a difference between that and a judge making a decision after having been named as a potential nominee by a specific candidate (who has a specific platform, etc).