Posted on 05/25/2009 11:24:34 AM PDT by wagglebee
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama is expected to name his replacement for retiring pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice David Souter. When he makes his nomination, which could come as early as Tuesday, pro-abortion 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge Diane Wood has become the front-runner.
Wood is one of several pro-abortion judges or political figures observers have placed on Obama's likely short list of candidates. Over the weekend, she appeared to rise to the top of the list.
Wood is considered a top legal mind by left-wing political activists as someone who can counter the legal acumen of Supreme Court jurists like Chief Justice John Roberts and Antonin Scalia.
However, her personal connections to Obama and her gender are causing some to consider her the most likely pick.
Abortion advocates have been lobbying Obama to name a woman to replace Souter and join pro-abortion Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only other woman on the top court. But Wood's relationship with Obama -- she also taught law at the University of Chicago law school where Obama was a colleague until 2004 -- may put her in the catbird's seat.
Several top pro-life and conservative sources told LifeNews.com over the weekend that they believed Obama would select Wood.
If he does so, Obama will be picking an abortion advocate who pro-life organizations will strongly oppose.
As a member of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, she has a long history of taking the pro-abortion side when it comes to pro-life issues.
Wood ruled against bans on partial-birth abortion in cases involving legislation from Wisconsin and Illinois. She joined the federal court in ruling that Wisconsin's law was unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's first ruling on partial-birth abortions in 2000.
Judge Wood also ruled in favor of abortion advocates by allowing them to misuse the RICO law designed to control mob activities to sue pro-life protesters.
The Supreme Court twice overturned her opinion and, in February 2006, ruled a second time that federal racketeering laws used against mob bosses can't be used against pro-life advocates who protest abortions.
Wood kept alive the lawsuit against pro-life advocates even though the high court had already issued an 8-0 decision in their favor.
Joseph Scheidler, the defendant in the lawsuit, said after the decision that Wood "claimed an affiliation with Chicago NOW and Planned Parenthood throughout the duration of the case."
Finally, Wood wrote a dissent in a case concerning an Indiana law requiring counseling and informed consent prior to an abortion. Similar laws in other states have reduced the number of abortions by giving women information about abortion risks and alternatives and have been upheld by the Supreme Court.
This friend is exactly the point. The Federal Government now rules without restraint. And the courts including the Supreme Court have blessed this usurpation of the rights of the States and the people. To expect any branch of the national government to reverse this is folly.
There is only one way to roll back usurpers. And that is for the usurped to rise up and reassert their rights.
With all due respect, I disagree.
We have at least had a few 5-4 decisions in our favor. This pick will change that. Now we will get ZERO 5-4 decisions in our favor.
Souter may be a frustrating lefty, but every once in a while, he did tip our way. Obamas pick is just about guaranteed to tip left ALL THE TIME.
I think you're confusing Souter with Kennedy. Souter was picked by GHW Bush and Kennedy was picked by Reagan. While it's true that Kennedy sometimes does not side with the Scalia side of the court (most recently in some of the WOT ruling), he's a fairly conservative justice.
Souter, on the other hand, virtually never sides with Scalia, and has never ruled with the conservatives on any of the landmark cases that have come before him during his tenure. Despite being nominated by Bush, he has been one of the most reliable "progressive" justices in the last 25 years. His departure will do nothing to change the balance of the court.
I am pretty sure Souter was #4 on the wrong side of those 5-4 decisions. This does little to change the court.
The "usurped" have an opportunity to rise up every four years. In this country, majority rules. Conservatives have got to find a way to become the majority again, or at least help the Republicans become the majority again. To relegate themselves to an even smaller, more ineffectual and irrelevant minority makes no logical sense whatsoever.
To abandon the federal party and therefore the federal elections in order to focus on the states seems equally illogical and frankly silly.
This whole "rise up against the usurpers" language isn't Quixotic, it's self-defeating.
Tell this to Colin Powell and John McCain.
Also, this old canard is seductive but false.
"The "usurped" have an opportunity to rise up every four years. In this country, majority rules."
There is no real opportunity to rise up any more because the national parties have conspired to eliminate any real choice. The only constituencies with any influence are those who profit from concentrated power at the national level. That is why "Republicans" when in power give us not liberty but unfunded Medicare drug benefits and allow the banksters to run wild. Whereas Democrats give us unvarnished socialism at home and suicidal pacifism abroad.
And the "majority" only rules these days if they happen to agree with their masters in black robes. It was after all the judiciary that give us abortion on demand as a "Constitutional Right" and homosexual marriage even when the people vote explicitly otherwise.
“The Supreme Court twice overturned her opinion and,...ruled a second time that federal racketeering laws used against mob bosses can’t be used against pro-life advocates...”
This is what many Democrats are terrified may happen: that Obama will chose a left-wing activist as his nominee.
Most recently-elected Democrats, who ran for office in mainly conservative districts, presented themselves as pro-life and pro-2nd Amendment Democrats.
Senator Ben Nelson has stated that an activist judicial nominee would be DOA in congress. Obama isn’t listening, it seems.
This can only work to the advantage of Republicans. Now, if only the RNC takes notice!
I hadn't considered that. So as you say, if that is the case, then the court doesn't change. We may end up better off than I thought. Hopefully the only vacancies that occur for Obama are the hard left justices, meaning the court will still swing right from time to time.
Knowing how God reacted towards Israel when they went off the deep end is not reassuring considering we have gone off the deep end too.
“However, the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. And the LORD said, “I will remove Judah also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast
off Jerusalem, this city which I have chosen, and the temple (house) of which I said, ‘My name shall be there’.” “Surely at the command (mouth) of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; AND THE LORD WOULD NOT FORGIVE.” (All caps mine) 2 Kings 23: 26 & 27 and 24: 3 & 4 NASV
God did forgive the King who repented and tore down the alters (still possible here), but God did have Judah invaded by the Babylonians.
I believe Wood is a ‘fitness nut’, so the age 58 thing is not as good as it sounds. Granholm is 50, again not a plus for us.
Laurence Tribe would be my choice.
Look at what happened for the election in November, Intrade called 49 out of 50 states correctly. No other polling or clued-in organization even came close. So if you “know” which one it will be, you can make money on that knowledge at Intrade.
However, the people buying on Intrade were actually voting and talking to people who were voting and were able to take advantage of other polling data.
In a case like this (or McCain picking Palin), there is ONE PERSON who ultimately makes the decision and this neutralizes Intrade’s ability to gauge the outcome. At the very best, there are maybe a dozen or so people who have actual knowledge of who is being vetted, but there are probably several people being vetted and only two or three people know who Zero is leaning toward.
Even this article is pure speculation, I don’t think we will know until Zero actually makes the announcement. But I am POSITIVE the nominee will be extremely pro-death.
But I am POSITIVE the nominee will be extremely pro-death.
***I’m leaning towards a justice who has well hidden his/her pro-death stance. In particular, I think Obama will approach it much like how he chose his VP running mate, basically a run-of-the-mill standard liberal candidate who appeals to the current liberal conventional “wisdom”.
God did forgive the King who repented and tore down the alters (still possible here), but God did have Judah invaded by the Babylonians.
Many Christians are praying for America and Israel, including me, on a daily basis. God hears our prayers and petitions. Let’s pray he will show mercy to us and heal our land.
Please keep this exchange civil. Thanks.
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