U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) says Republican suggestions to hold off approval of a new Supreme Court justice until next year will tie the court in knots.
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Northern Illinois University political science professor Artemus Ward has written three books on the nations’ highest court, including “Deciding To Leave”, a look at the process by which Supreme Court justices decide to retire.
“Anyone that President Obama might nominate – and if they were cleared – certainly would be more moderate than Justice Scalia on this subject”, Fletcher said.
He said a liberal justice could mean the second amendment right to bear arms being “written out” of the United States constitution.
At issue is whether Obama, in his last year in office, should make a nomination and whether the Republican-led Senate should confirm that choice in a presidential election year. “If the Democrats want to replace [Justice Antonin Scalia], they need to win the election”.
Obama could try to find a candidate that would appeal to Republicans, perhaps a sitting USA senator or someone the Senate recently confirmed for another post.
The Supreme Court was created in 1789.
The political fight over the replacement for late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia continues to grow. The GOP presidential candidates agreed the Senate should not confirm President Obama’s nominee, whoever it is.
As a Congressman, Perry will not have a vote in Supreme Court confirmations, but he still didn’t like that the debate started so soon.
It is false to say that Supreme Court justices do not get confirmed in presidential election years. On Saturday, McConnell said the “vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president”. There are 34 Senate seats up for election in November, as the body’s 100 seats turn over in a staggered fashion, with roughly a third of the seats up for election every two years. He says that gives him alone “the background, the principle, the character, the judgment” to find a solid conservative to replace Scalia.
The Constitution clearly states that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint…”
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The split between four Democratic-appointed liberal justices and four Republican-appointed conservatives lends unusual importance to the appointment of the ninth member of the court. “We disagreed now and then, but when I wrote for the Court and received a Scalia dissent, the opinion ultimately released was notably better than my initial circulation”.
