That void may be around for a while.
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Guevara admitted that she pronounced Scalia dead by phone, without seeing his body, and just relied on the statements made by law enforcement officials at the scene who assured her “there were no signs of foul play”. His successor? Not likely. Obama has said he plans to announce a nomination but will face an uphill ban to win confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Offended by the Republican snub of Obama, and motivated by what liberal leadership of the court could do for voting rights, affirmative action and other issues, this coalition could elect a Democratic president and diminish or even reverse the G.O.P.’s 54-46 advantage in the Senate, particularly with vulnerable Republican seats in Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and elsewhere.
Werhan says he sees no way around an impasse. “And to hobble the court over this, you know, just really seems inappropriate”.
Scalia had said that since the U.S. Constitution does not recognize a right to abortion, neither should the Supreme Court. His death leaves a completely split court: Four justices were appointed by Republicans, and four were appointed by Democrats. What shouldn’t happen is that in a election year, a president in a very divisive kind of time, should nominate someone and have it be passed.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died Saturday while on vacation quail hunting near Marfa, Texas. This, they believe, would allow them to paint Republicans as intransigent and well outside the mainstream, undermining the Senate GOP’s election-year argument that they are committed to governing in a bipartisan manner.
If the Senate refuses to consider the candidate, the Democratic presidential candidates can use this as evidence of the Republican Senate acting in bad faith.
In the nation’s capital, where flags flew at half-staff at the White House and Supreme Court, the political sniping soared over replacing Scalia on the bench, raising the prospect of a court short-handed for some time.
Either Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have short memories or they’re raging hypocrites because both have participated in Democrat filibusters of President Bush’s nominees to high courts on nothing but ideological grounds.
Haynie said the vote could shift the balance and change the future of cases presented before the Supreme Court justices, including the redistricting decision in North Carolina.
While some are focused on Scalia’s replacement, Chicago Attorney Jim Seritella was morning the loss of the Supreme Court Justice.
Those details are seemingly at odds with recollections of friends who described Scalia as his usual, happy self during the days leading up to his death.
“There are other issues related to abortion where he’s erred more on the side of being permissive rather than protective of the unborn child”, she said. The Senate confirmed her nomination in December 2013 by a 56-38 vote.
Members of a Catholic order of nuns known as the Little Sisters of the Poor stand outside the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals building in Denver, Colorado, along with William Mumma, President of the Becket Fund.
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A growing number of Republican senators have already said they will not support an Obama nominee, including a dozen who are up for reelection in November.
