Entry tags:
NPR: Supreme Court On Edge
NPR had a story this morning underscoring the importance of the upcoming presidential election on the Supreme Court.
The introduction says it all: the upcoming presidential election will determine whether the Court will swing hard to the right, or not at all; it will definitely not swing hard to the left.
Currently the Supreme Court is divided between four conservatives (Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito), four liberals (Stevens, Souter, Breyer, Ginsberg), and the moderate-conservative swing vote of Anthony Kennedy. Previously, moderate-conservative Sandra Day O'Connor was the swing vote, but her retirement and replacement by Alito put Kennedy in that position, and moved the center of the court a little farther to the right. Today's "liberal wing" was considered "moderate" a generation ago, but the court keeps moving to the right. (Note that only two of the nine current members were chosen by a Democratic president.)
The NPR Supreme Court reporter estimates that three of the four liberal justices are likely to retire in the next presidential term, starting with Stevens, who is now 88; Ginsberg is 75, and the 68-year-old Souter is apparently itching to leave. (The other liberal, Breyer, is 69, while Scalia and Kennedy are 72 and 71). On the other hand, the three youngest members (ages 53-60) by far are all conservatives.
John McCain has promised that his Supreme Court appointees would be along the lines of the current conservative wing, putting them strongly into the majority for a generation. To me, that's reason enough to make sure he does not win the election.
(The New York Times also talked about this last week, and a more precise numerical analysis was done at Daily Kos last month.)
The introduction says it all: the upcoming presidential election will determine whether the Court will swing hard to the right, or not at all; it will definitely not swing hard to the left.
Currently the Supreme Court is divided between four conservatives (Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito), four liberals (Stevens, Souter, Breyer, Ginsberg), and the moderate-conservative swing vote of Anthony Kennedy. Previously, moderate-conservative Sandra Day O'Connor was the swing vote, but her retirement and replacement by Alito put Kennedy in that position, and moved the center of the court a little farther to the right. Today's "liberal wing" was considered "moderate" a generation ago, but the court keeps moving to the right. (Note that only two of the nine current members were chosen by a Democratic president.)
The NPR Supreme Court reporter estimates that three of the four liberal justices are likely to retire in the next presidential term, starting with Stevens, who is now 88; Ginsberg is 75, and the 68-year-old Souter is apparently itching to leave. (The other liberal, Breyer, is 69, while Scalia and Kennedy are 72 and 71). On the other hand, the three youngest members (ages 53-60) by far are all conservatives.
John McCain has promised that his Supreme Court appointees would be along the lines of the current conservative wing, putting them strongly into the majority for a generation. To me, that's reason enough to make sure he does not win the election.
(The New York Times also talked about this last week, and a more precise numerical analysis was done at Daily Kos last month.)