Posted on 09/04/2005 11:14:10 PM PDT by Crackingham
If the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor opened a gap at the ideological center of the Supreme Court, the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist removed the anchor of its right wing. Yet in what is suddenly a much more complex process of replacing not only O'Connor but also Rehnquist, President Bush has an opportunity to shore up the court's conservative bloc and entrench it.
Rehnquist's replacement will probably serve for many years to come; if the new justice's views remain conservative over that time, it will mean the effective perpetuation of a Rehnquist-like vote on the court long after Bush is gone.
"Even if you appoint someone who is identical to Rehnquist in every respect, you're talking about someone who is about 50 rather than 80," said Richard Lazarus, who directs the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University Law Center.
Bush must also be sensitive to the fact that replacing a chief justice is not quite the same as replacing an associate. The titular head of the federal judiciary needs to be temperamentally suited to organizing the strong-minded jurists who sit with him on the Supreme Court and on lower courts.
"The next chief justice, whether chosen from within or outside the court, has a very high mark to follow," said A.E. Dick Howard, a professor of law at the University of Virginia. "Ideology aside, it's going to be difficult to run the court any better than he did," referring to Rehnquist. "We will look back on the Rehnquist court as one of the smoothest in the court's history."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It is the first time an associate justice has filled in for a chief justice who died in office since Justice Hugo Black replaced Harlan Fiske Stone for 63 days in 1946.
Not good.
"Of the justices remaining, only two, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, can be called sure votes to overturn Roe v. Wade"
Amazing. To this crew, the entire meaning of the Court is focused on keeping legal the right to murder the unborn.
When O'Connor stepped down, the Left cackled about how Bush needed to replace her with someone that represented the same judicial temperment.
Somehow, I'll bet those talking points don't see the light of day this time. How about it, Teddy? Time for some intellectual consistency???
They haven't the guts. Antonin's point is that the abortion matter has NO PLACE in the courts: it is the domain of the legislative branch to make law. That is our nation's founding principle, not this acid trip "international precedent" mental illness which has invaded SCOTUS in recent years.
Got to love how every judicial appointment or major federal election boils down to "abortion on demand" for the mainstream press. Yes, why of course, we must continue infanticide! In fact, let's extend it to the first six weeks post gestation just in case you have buyer's remorse. And yet you have a chairperson at Princeton University with such views! All the while the pro-life movement is forbidden to show images, forbidden to education, slandered as fascists, and threatened to avoid debate.
Too much of a pinko. ;)
A safe bet indeed. They'll harp on needing a "mainstream conservative" which, for them, is someone like Olympia Snowe.
Pick the most conservative jurist in the country just to watch the libs howl.
The left and the media have two core causes now...keeping Roe Vs. Wade, and destroying President Bush.
No matter who Bush chooses, the Left is gonna howl. Cool with me. The more the "Moore/Soros" wing of the party foams at the lip, the harder it gets for Hillary. And the more any Republican looks good to most Americans.
Response: Never overlook the dictum; " In declining States the leadership intuitively choses the most harmful course of action." The justices of the Supreme Court are part of the leadership, as is the President who nominates them, and the Congress that confirms their appointment. Therefore, whomever is ultimately selected shall continue the ever increasing harm of the last 75 years. In short, NO REAL CHANGE for the better.
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