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Conservative Justices Warn Kavanaugh and Barrett Lack 'Fortitude' | Opinion
Newsweek ^ | 7/6/21 | JOSH BLACKMAN

Posted on 07/07/2021 4:35:21 AM PDT by george76

For the first time in a generation, there are six conservative justices on the Supreme Court. In time, this sextet will incrementally push the Court to the right. Yet, three of them are already sounding an alarm. Twice this term, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch warned that Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett lack backbone.

In an excessive force case, the conservative trio wrote that the two newest Justices were "unwilling to...bear[] the criticism that" denying the prisoner's appeal "would inevitably elicit." And in a religious liberty case, the Thomas-3 charged that Kavanaugh and Barrett lacked the "fortitude" to overrule a controversial precedent. The conservatives implied a similar fissure in several other cases.

It is fairly common for justices to criticize their colleagues' legal judgments. But it is rare for justices to claim that their colleagues are motivated by cowardice. The putative 6-3 conservative majority is, in fact, far from monolithic. At present, we have a 3-3-3 Court. There are three progressives, three conservatives and three members in the middle. Only time will tell whether Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett will sidle up to Chief Justice John Roberts' P.R.-based jurisprudence, or whether they will stand on their constitutional principles.

...

Look no further than Chief Justice Roberts, who has withered away to a hollow shell of the jurist he once was. Now, Roberts strives to achieve moderation for the sake of moderation—regardless of any actual governing legal principles. I pray that Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett, both of whom I deeply respect, resist that siren song. They should instead follow Hamilton's lead and rely on "nothing...but the Constitution and the laws."

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alito; barrett; clarencethomas; genderdysphoria; gorsuch; homosexualagenda; kavanaugh; neilgorsuch; roberts; samuelalito; scotus; supremecourt; thomas
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To: FlipWilson

ACB’s just another bait & switch ‘conservative’. Another poser liar.

She’s a good and busy Mommy? For her very important job for America, that doesn’t mean shit. Not shit.


41 posted on 07/07/2021 7:39:41 AM PDT by polymuser (A socialist is a communist without the power to take everything from their citizens...yet.d)
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To: SmokingJoe

That was ONE decision. There are three weenies on the court who were picked as conservatives. But they are cowards who care more for popularity than honesty and accuracy.


42 posted on 07/07/2021 7:44:02 AM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: Montana_Sam

I think it’s a mistake to quibble over individual judges.

A far bigger issue that must be addressed is the fact that all of our institutions are morbidly corrupt. We saw over and over during the years long bipartisan coup against President Trump that the domestic enemies of America get the support/votes when they need it.


43 posted on 07/07/2021 8:27:26 AM PDT by lodi90
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To: Mr Rogers
That was ONE decision

Out of many conservative decisions. They have all been posted here.
Use the search button at the top of the page.

44 posted on 07/07/2021 8:36:16 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: polymuser

The whole Mommy thing left me cold. Too many kids with special circumstances to have mentored & taken individual interest in each kid while climbing the judicial ladder.
I am always suspicious of virtue signaling. Cynical maybe but I’ve seen how poorly the reality matches the rah rah in many cases.
Working Mom’s wind up using caretakers and things fall through the cracks unless you are very careful. The higher pressure the job the less one on one time & focus on each child. No one is superwoman no matter how well they are packaged for consumption.


45 posted on 07/07/2021 8:39:24 AM PDT by JayGalt (The dogs bark but the caravan moves on.)
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To: SmokingJoe

I read a lot of the decisions. The full decisions. And we have three squishes.


46 posted on 07/07/2021 8:49:28 AM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: george76

The author makes a solid case, particularly in his links to other articles of his. But I have to note: saying that Barrett “rule[d] against people of faith” is a level of discourse better suited to pro wrestling.


47 posted on 07/07/2021 9:08:50 AM PDT by NobleFree ("law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual")
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To: george76
Conservative Justices Warn Kavanaugh and Barrett Lack 'Fortitude'

Fortitude Kavanaugh lacks.

Beer, not so much.

48 posted on 07/07/2021 9:19:25 AM PDT by FreeReign
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To: george76

It seems strange to me that Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas are rarities in the judicial world. I would think that people like Scalia and Thomas would be fairly common. Instead, they are the outliers. The exceptions to the rule.


49 posted on 07/07/2021 11:19:02 AM PDT by Mr. N. Wolfe
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To: Mr Rogers

If you had read more than one decision, you wouldn’t be whining about “only one decision” being pro conservative.
You clearly don’t have a clue what the heck you are talking about.


50 posted on 07/07/2021 11:31:05 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: SmokingJoe

We’ll have to agree to disagree. Even their “conservative” decisions have been watered down to be as weak as possible. But if you think otherwise....whatever.


51 posted on 07/07/2021 11:39:24 AM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: LIConFem

Every one of Trump’s picks was on the list from the Federalist Society.

Easy to second guess, but pretty much everyone on FR was stoked at the original nomination of all three.


52 posted on 07/07/2021 11:58:08 AM PDT by RedStateRocker (NUKE MECCA. ABOLISH THE DEA, IRS, AND ATF)
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To: Zathras
Both are new and more than a bit scared considering the rape they got during conformation.

Odd. It would have the opposite effect on me. Course I'd never be in that position in the first place.

53 posted on 07/09/2021 2:34:41 AM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: JonPreston

Conservatism hasn’t failed, it hasn’t been tried in a very, very long time.


54 posted on 07/09/2021 4:24:34 AM PDT by fwdude
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To: RedStateRocker
>> Every one of Trump’s picks was on the list from the Federalist Society. Easy to second guess, but pretty much everyone on FR was stoked at the original nomination of all three. <<

Not me. Too bad FReepers didn't listen at the time...

55 posted on 07/14/2021 11:26:23 AM PDT by BillyBoy ("States rights" is NOT a suicide pact.)
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To: BillyBoy

Maybe so, won’t argue. Just saying that while I have certainly criticized Trump, and personally don’t like him for reasons outside of this discussion, nor the majority of his picks, he did exactly what he promised to do, which was go with Federalist Society listed people.


56 posted on 07/14/2021 1:28:48 PM PDT by RedStateRocker (NUKE MECCA. ABOLISH THE DEA, IRS, AND ATF)
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To: BillyBoy

What do you think of Gors lately? This article tags him as a conservative who thinks Kav, Bob Roberts, and Barrett, are pussies.


57 posted on 07/19/2021 6:56:42 PM PDT by Impy ("Burn them all!!" - King Aerys II Targaryen, I share the sentiment )
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To: Impy
I always tagged him as a Sandra Day O'Connor type judge, and IMO I nailed it and that hasn't changed. Like Gors, O'Connor voted with Rehnquist 95% of the time her first 3 years on the court, leaving many conservatives to prematurely declare she was a female Rehnquist clone (they had even dated in law school) and high five each other for Reagan's "accomplishment" of naming a staunch "strict constructionist" as the first female justice.

. Then, O'Connor began issuing a handful of WTF rulings on social issues, and it turned out she simply had a leftist streak on many social policies, although she was an otherwise conservative Republican and had been for many years. It wasn't like her views "evolved" on the court or she was a closet commie, she was merely a 70-80% conservative when we needed a 95% one.

Some FReeper posted a graph lately of the current SCOTUS ideological leaning, and it had Gorsuch/Kav/Roberts grouped closely together, as right-of-center justices. I think that's pretty accurate. They all have more in common with each other than any have with Scalia, though none of them are horrible John Paul Stevens/Earl Warren activist leftists in GOP drag, no matter how often FReepers lash out at Roberts and curse out Bush for appointing.

The real wild card where the jury is stil out on is Barrett. So far she's been very disappointing and less conservative than I anticipated. We better pray she steps up and shows vast improvement or Trump will be 0-3 in SCOTUS appointees

58 posted on 07/19/2021 7:10:00 PM PDT by BillyBoy ("States rights" is NOT a suicide pact.)
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To: Impy; DoodleBob
Ah, found the "ideological spectrum" graph from another thread. Thanks to FReeper Doodlebob for sharing. I think this study is pretty accurate! The ONLY big surprise for me here was apparently the "wise latina" voted noticeably to the LEFT of liberal icon/evil man-hating feminazi Darth Bader Ginsburg.


59 posted on 07/19/2021 7:28:22 PM PDT by BillyBoy ("States rights" is NOT a suicide pact.)
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To: BillyBoy; Impy

You’re welcome. The Martin-Quinn score is a pretty useful measure of conservatism/liberalism.


60 posted on 07/19/2021 7:32:19 PM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s^2)
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