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You've Gotta Have Heart? How Obama Chooses Judges by Deal W. Hudson 8/10/08 Evoking the power of the human heart is the daily bread of American pop culture. It rarely raises an eyebrow. But the use of "heart" by Barack Obama to describe his criteria for picking judges is troubling. Speaking to Planned Parenthood just over a year ago, Obama said: We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom; the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And...

A president stays in office four or eight years, but his appointments to the Supreme Court can extend his impact for decades. It's likely that Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama will be able to appoint one - and possibly three - justices to the court during his time in the White House. The ideological makeup of the court today is split very narrowly. Even one appointment could dramatically affect its direction. And it's not just the Supreme Court. The next president will exert his influence through the nomination of hundreds of judges to lower federal courts. Observers of...

There are four justices over seventy years of age: Stevens 88, Ginsberg 75, Scalia 72, and Kennedy 71. Of these, only Scalia is conservative. With McCain, the GOP can own the Court for decades with conservative replacements. But will he campaign on this issue?

If John McCain were elected, the appointment of a conservative justice could immediately reshape the court. The senator from Arizona might be forced to temper his choice to accommodate confirmation by a solidly Democratic Senate, but his nominee would undoubtedly be far to the right of either Stevens or Ginsburg, potentially solidifying a five-member conservative majority. If Obama had the opportunity to make an appointment, it would be only the fourth nomination from a Democratic president in more than 40 years. And for activists on the left, it could signal the opportunity to create a new dynamic for the court....

The judiciary is becoming an important election issue. John McCain is warning conservatives that control of today's finely balanced Supreme Court depends on his election. Unfortunately, his jurisprudence is likely to be anything but conservative. The idea of a "living Constitution" long has been popular on the political left. Conservatives routinely dismiss such result-oriented justice, denouncing "judicial activism" and proclaiming their fidelity to "original intent." However, many Republicans, like Mr. McCain, are just as result-oriented as their Democratic opponents. They only disagree over the result desired. Judge-made rights are wrong because there is no constitutional warrant behind them. The Constitution...

Gender and race will loom large when Barack Obama or John McCain has a chance to fill a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. ADVERTISEMENT With only one woman and no Hispanics on the court, the next president will feel pressure -- and perhaps a desire -- to diversify the nine-member court. ``Regardless of who is elected president, there will be strong sentiments in favor of appointing a woman or someone who would reflect other elements of diversity such as an Hispanic or African-American,'' said Theodore Olson, a former U.S. solicitor general who heads McCain's advisory committee on judicial appointments. Six justices...

McCain: Bork Was No "Maverick Jurist" John McCain is planning to be in North Carolina tomorrow where he is scheduled to give a speech on judicial nominations: John McCain’s campaign said Friday that Fred Thompson and Sam Brownback will join the presumptive GOP nominee in North Carolina next week for a major speech on judicial appointments. Both Thompson and Brownback have endorsed the Arizona senator, and both Republicans presented themselves throughout the Republican primary battle as “consistent conservatives,” particularly regarding social issues and judicial appointments. The speech, to be held Tuesday at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, will be just...

The Washington Post headline says it all, in stating the obvious: A John McCain victory in November, just like the Bush wins in 2000 and 2004, will likely see the addition of more conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, when using words like "could", the same can be said about Barack Obama: a win by him in November 'could' push the U.S. Supreme Court to the left. The article, however, doesn't say that, but rather throws stuff out there like this: "A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly...

A Win by McCain Could Push a Split Court to Right

A factor that weighs heavily in McCain’s favor is his Senate record. Judicial issues haven’t been his trademark, but he has consistently supported conservative Supreme Court nominees. In 1987 he spoke on behalf of embattled Reagan Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, saying he supported him “without any hesitation.” In recent years McCain has voted for every one of Bush’s judicial nominees. “He voted for Alito and Roberts despite the fact that he had to know they would vote to strike down McCain-Feingold,” said Levey. “That addresses the concern that he might not appoint strict constructionist judges who are more likely...

(CNSNews.com) - The records of Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) are very different when it comes to judges and courts. The Republican and Democratic candidates for president are far apart when it comes to judicial philosophy and the votes they cast on major judicial nominations during the 109th and 110th Congresses. McCain wants to appoint judges who hold a constructionist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, according to his campaign's Web site. "When applying the law, the role of judges is not to impose their own view as to the best policy choices for society but to faithfully...

Conservatives, seizing on the Supreme Court's ruling last week on Guantanamo detainees, want to turn the court into election fodder. I hope they succeed. No issue in this campaign is as simultaneously neglected and important. And the opposite reactions of John McCain and Barack Obama to the decision underscore how much is at stake for the future of the court. Obama hailed the ruling for showing that "a state can't just hold you for any reason without charging you and without giving you any kind of due process — that's the essence of who we are." McCain was initially mild,...

Kaus expects nothing less than a full-blown conservosphere freak-out over this. I’m underwhelmed. After his public conference call with Clinton supporters (covered extensively by Jonathan Martin) Saturday, John McCain met privately with some 75 of those supporters at his Virginia headquarters, two people who were there said… “He stayed for a good almost half hour afterwards shaking hands, listening to our concerns, talking to us,” said [Party Unity My Ass] founder Will Bower, who said he thought many of the people there would vote for McCain… Bower said he’d liked McCain’s answer on judges, in which he “pointed out that...

If you ask Americans what issues matter most to them in choosing a president, the candidate's judicial philosophy is not likely to make it into the top 10. But a president's power to nominate judges is, in fact, one of his most powerful tools - and often leaves a legacy that lasts far longer than any policy initiative. President Dwight Eisenhower was no liberal activist, but his appointment of Earl Warren as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court dramatically shifted the nation leftward for decades on everything from criminal justice to separation of church and state to legislative reapportionment....

Mr. Obama, on the other hand, is a lawyer and has had a long and deep interest in the courts and the law. Cass R. Sunstein, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School and an Obama adviser, said in an interview that because Mr. Obama had taught constitutional law for 10 years at Chicago, “he is immersed in these issues.” “The first thing to know,” Professor Sunstein said, “is that he knows this stuff inside and out, and he has the credentials to be easily appointed to the court himself.” From his remarks in the Senate opposing the...

Strict Constructionist Philosophy "Our freedom is curtailed no less by an act of arbitrary judicial power as it is by an act of an arbitrary executive, or legislative, or state power. For that reason, a judge's decisions must rest on more than his subjective conviction that he is right, or his eagerness to address a perceived social ill." -John McCain Remarks to The Federalist Society November 16, 2006 John McCain believes that one of the greatest threats to our liberty and the Constitutional framework that safeguards our freedoms are willful judges who usurp the role of the people and their...

John McCain and Barack Obama, the two leading presidential candidates, have set out sharply contrasting views on the role of the Supreme Court and the kind of justices they would appoint. Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.), in a speech two weeks ago, echoed the views of conservatives who say "judicial activism" is the central problem facing the judiciary. He called it the "common and systematic abuse . . . by an elite group . . . we entrust with judicial power." On Thursday, he criticized the California Supreme Court for giving gays and lesbians the right to marry, saying he doesn't "believe...

WASHINGTON — John McCain and Barack Obama, the two leading presidential candidates, have set out sharply contrasting views on the role of the Supreme Court and the kind of justices they would appoint. Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.), in a speech two weeks ago, echoed the views of conservatives who say "judicial activism" is the central problem facing the judiciary. He called it the "common and systematic abuse . . . by an elite group . . . we entrust with judicial power." On Thursday, he criticized the California Supreme Court for giving gays and lesbians the right to marry, saying he...

Talk show host Michael Reagan invited John McCain to call into Reagan's radio show on Tuesday, February 29. McCain obliged, and what follows is a transcript of their brief and tense conversation, aired nationally on more than 220 radio stations. This transcript was provided by the Bush for President Campaign.Michael Reagan: This is an interview I tried to do earlier today with John McCain... It would be choosing the judges if John McCain becomes President of the United States, and will they be liberal judges, or will they be conservative judges? That's an issue many people would like to get...

Here's why: 1. Gang of 14. 2. Warren Rudman. 3. McCain said Alito is too conservative. 4. There is absolutely zero logic in thinking that McCain will nominate the type of judge that will overturn his signature bills.