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.
1) Kennedy is NO conservative.
2) Checked your homepage. Giuliani will be Prez over my cold, dead, body.
3) "social" concerns may not concern you but they concern a LOT of us. Wake up and smell the coffee!!!!
Teddy Kennedy was who I was thinking of but they are two of a kind.
We shall see.
I don't mean the original decision, I mean that here are the Roe protectors today
Souter
Stephens
Breyer
Ginsberg
O'Connor
Kennedy
Oh. I got it.
Anthony...not The Swimmer!
Anthony Kennedy is actually not always on the wrong side. He was on the wrong side on Kelo but Roberts is hammering him and most of the other liberals to the right side in denying money to Harvard if they choose to prohibit military recruiters.
Kennedy voted the right way in Bush v. Gore.
So we don't like that he's flipper, but he's not the same as the pantaloonless Senator from Hyannisport
:-)
Thank you. I'm glad somebody else heard.
Oh...I thought someone was claiming it was 5-4 in the good guys favor...I agree with you...
Italians from Trenton, N.J. are taking over.
Precisely right.
Rush is aware, as many of us are, that part of the reason Roberts was selected was to attempt to place someone on the bench that could postively influence Kennedy back to the "right" side now that his mentor O'Connor is off the Court. It's also been speculated in Washington, and it's rumor so who knows? That another Justice will retire. Spec seems to be centered on Stevens. If you look at it optimistically, that would mean a 5-4 Majority and maybe a 6-3 majority if kennedy is righted.
perhaps he was meaning that Alito would be a more prone to rule on the conservative side than O'Conner has been.
Eeek. Kennedy voted the wrong way on Kelo. Sorry all, I am tired.
Nope. There are not enough good guys, and the changing tide scares the Dems
Yeah, Rush seems pretty certain one of the liberal justices will retire before Bush's term ends. I'm not sure why Rush is so confident of this, but he's said it more than once.
That's 'using'. Drinking again?
Souter's, imo, a lost cause. I believe he's squarely in the Ginsberg Liberal camp.
Kennedy is the Justice we hope to right. Infact, a lot of people believe the backlash from the D.C. political/entertainment circuit after the 2000 election is why Kennedy has gone increasingly Left in an attempt to get back in their good graces. Not that he was great before, but take the hostility on the social circuit and O'Connor as his mentor...and well, look at the results.
"I had no idea that ACLU lawyer RBG was so old."
I also think she has had a bout with cancer. I do not think she is in the best of health.
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