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.
O Connor was on the right side of Kelo...she wrote the dissent that Rehnquist and Scalia joined in.
Look it up
125 S.Ct. 2655
Thanks. She got one right.
Aww, so he IS gone for the full week. I was looking forward to hearing his comments on 24 also. Oh well... thanks for the info.
Two liberals: Kennedy, Souter.
And three nutcases.
Thanks for the extra information. You are probably right about Thomas' shyness. Some people abbhor being the center of attention, and I suspect Thomas is one of them.
It's worth repeating; Limbaugh is a rabid idiot to whom the truth is only a coincidence if it happens to accompany his unrelenting, daily and wholly manufactured spin on contemporary events.
At conference on Casey, Justice Anthony Kennedy originally voted with Thomas, Scalia, White and Rehnquist to uphold all of the Pennsylvania abortion regulations and overturn Roe. However, Kennedy changed his vote at the last minute and joined with fellow justices Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter to form a plurality that would uphold Roe.
thank you so much for your very informative post... i truly appreciate it... when GHB nominated Thomas, i was just beginning to see the "conservative" light... back then, as a liberal, i thought that anything conservative or Republican was "bad... evil."
i agree... i thought he was fantastic...
You obviously don't listen to Rush Limbaugh very much.
Right, he was talking about when/if Ruth Bader Ginsburg steps down during George W's term in office he would be choosing another Supreme Court Justice and the court would be 6-3.
If Stevens was a conservative the MSM would be clamoring for him to be ousted out of office, circulating gossip about his health and his mind - and snarling and sniping that 30 years is long enough. They might even be clamoring for term limits. As it is, the MSM is actually hoping that his heart continues to beat (engaing in any and all new age or pagan prayer rituals).
:-) Thanks for that additional information.
Was that Ruth giving a ruling from the bench?
*ping*
No, this lady was much prettier, in or out of costume.
I am not so sure about that. Remember the Roberts interview where he used the reaffirming of Miranda as an example of the Rehnquist court not being very conservative. That was a 7-2 opinion, with only Rehnquist and Thomas in the minority. Roberts in pretty hard core if he was being critical of that majority opinion.
T"hats why don't believe a candidate running as a hard-core movement conservative is a slam dunk. I know a lot of people cite Reagan as the example of how attractive conservative principles are to the body politic. In 1980 Carter was such an abject failure, people where willing look past the supposed 'hard edge conservative' Reagan was. Now I wish the argument was won and a real conservative with a strong commitment to restoring real constitutional government. However the 'body politic' is there yet. It as you pointed to evenly divided. The goal should keep the momentum even if its 'two step forward & one step back' (yes I am quoting Lenin!, sometimes even a broken clock is right !)"
I shouldn't type on the run ! Let me make the following corrections:
"people where willing" should read "people were willing"
"the 'body politic' is there yet. " should read " the 'body politc' is NOT there yet"
Kennedy is NOT a conservative. Not even close.
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