Rehnquist may retire by '03, court observers say - Age, politics could lead to chief justice's exit

Associated Press ^ | September 22, 2002 | Associated Press Staff

[weikel]

Bump Pinochet formed his model government with University of Chicago economist.

[Bubba_Leroy]

When he is in the majority on a vote, he decides which Justice will write the opinion of the Court. When he is in the minority, he decides who will write the minority opinion. In case of a presidential impeachment, he sits as judge over the Senate. Also, he has control over administrative matters in the Court and the appointment of various court officers.

[nicollo]

This is an excellent question. Here's my best, quick reply:

The CJ is an administrative position. He sets the agenda and controls functions, forms, rules, and schedules. He also gets the hottest limousine (I've saw Rhenquist's on the way out of the factory -- beeeautiful: short, discrete and very private with a solid rear-quarter as opposed to tinted glass).

Also, the CJ presides over the Senate during impeachment trials.

[hchutch]

If I were Bush, I'd go for a two-fer if Rhenquist were to retire:

1. Thomas as Chief Justice.
2. Emilio Garza from the 5th Circuit to be the new associate Justice.

The next to go would be O'Connor or Stevens. My bet is Stevens. O'Connor's locked in from 2004 due to some flap that occured during the 2000 election.

Alberto Gonzales would represent an improvement over Stevens by a long shot.

O'Connor? Replace her with either Posner from the 7th Circuit, or Luttig - who's got a good rep fromt he 4th Circuit.

Ginsberg might also go due to health problems. For that, I'll go with another Hispanic, this time Miguel Estrada.

So, hchutch's SCOTUS by the fall of 2005 (assuming purists do not sink Bush Jr. in 2004):

CJ Thomas
Scalia
Kennedy
Souter
Breyer
Garza
Gonzales
Luttig
Estrada

Now, how does that court sound?

[Bubba_Leroy]

Looks good to me. If you can figure out a way to replace Kennedy, Souter and Breyer I'll like it even better.

[hchutch]

That will be a while in coming.

Still, the six I have will be quite solid for a while, and Kennedy is not that bad, either.

Souter and Breyer are the only bad ones on the court. The rest are anywhere from good (Kennedy) to superb (Thomas and Scalia).

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !

[Iron Eagle]

This article misses the mark. First, Bush will and should elevate Scalia to the top post. (This is a certainty if the Republicans take the senate).

As for a replacement. The names mentioned certainly are not a surprise. But keep your eye on 5th Cir Court of Appeals Judge Garza. He is pro-life, Catholic, a Notre Dame grad, and hispanic. Dems would have a real tough time knocking him down. (Bush may save him for a loss in the Senate. Thus, if someone dies or must leave the Court and we don't have the votes, he may tap Garza to try to hurdle the Democrat litmus test. He will dare the dems to vote down a Hispanic Judge).