In Second Term, Roberts Court Defines Itself - Many 5 to 4 Decisions Reflect Narrowly Split Court Th

[jamesinca]

Source: Washington Post

In Second Term, Roberts Court Defines Itself
Many 5 to 4 Decisions Reflect Narrowly Split Court That Leans Conservative

By Robert Barnes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 25, 2007; A03



In the final days of the Supreme Court's term, the stage is set for the divisions that narrowly but decisively split the justices on social issues to be on full display.

The court has already decided more cases on 5 to 4 votes this term than in all of last term -- some of them favoring the court's liberal wing, more won by the conservatives. This week, the opportunity is there for the court reconstituted under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to make a bold statement.

The cases remaining concern some of the most divisive of social and policy questions: the use of race in public school admission programs; the constitutionality of advertising restrictions in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance act; whether ordinary taxpayers have the right to sue over what they perceive to be violations of the separation of church and state.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the only member of the court to be in the majority in all 16 of this term's 5 to 4 decisions, has sided more consistently with conservatives in recently announced cases. The result has been important rulings providing more protection for employers fighting claims of past discrimination, limits on prisoner rights and death penalty appeals, and the term's signature decision -- reversing the court's jurisprudence on abortion restrictions to uphold the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/24/AR2007062401367_pf.html

[annabanana]

1. '08 is not "optional"

The next president will be appointing at least one, probably MORE SC Justices. Let's see to it that the Federalist Society cannot dictate those choices, ok?

[quiet.american]

2. Amen. nt

[Auntie Bush]

4. I worry about that all the time.

I think Dems should voice that warning and campaign on it regularly.

[jamesinca]

3. I think Ginsburg is getting long in the tooth

We need a Democrat in office to replace her with a young person. How old and healthy are Scalia, Alito, Thomas, Kennedy and Roberts? Roberts is young, so is Alito I think. We need one of those five to be old and retire. I am not going to say get sick and die because that is cruel. But that is something that needs to be considered for replacement.

[arewenotdemo]

11. Those five (minus Kennedy) will likely live forever since the US SC

is not really a high-stress job for them.

They simply take their walking orders from Rove.

[cascadiance]

15. Orrin Hatch knew what he was doing recommending her...

... to the Dems. He knew he wasn't going to get a conservative, so get the next best thing and get a progressive that wasn't healthy and likely might not last more than another two terms of presidents. And Clinton fell for that crap!

[still_one]

8. The next appointments will maintain the current 5-4 decisions we are seeing

The ironic thing is the justice who represented moderation and equal rights for women, did more to hurt woman.

The 2000 Gore vs. bush decision changed everything, and like most cowards, justice o'conner stepped down from the court to allow hard core right wing ideologues to replace her. Than you o'conner for nothing...........

thomas who replaced Thrugood Marshell, has helped undo the civil rights and affirmative action rulings that allowed HIM the opportunities, while trying to take them away from others who follow

2000 and 2004 both were not optional...

[cascadiance]

13. Will they get increased secret service protection in 2009?

Seems like the way they are voting now, they might want to think of what it would be like if a Democratic President takes over then! Though I would never advocate changing the court that way, there will always be some out there that might in this climate!

[alarimer]

21. Are any of the other conservatives old?

I know Roberts, Alito and Thomas are fairly young and (unfortunately) probably not got to die anytime soon. But the other two votes? How old are they? Because I figure that if we are lucky, they will die or retire in the next (hopefully Democratic) administration. And he or she can appoint two more rational people. That would give us a 6-3 majority and keep the three musketeers where they belong.

[Kagemusha]

5. Let us recall Roberts' rhetoric about consensus and 9-0 decisions

Don't hear about that much anymore, do you?

[Frances]

6. Who was it that ran on the notion that there was no difference

between Gore and Bush?

Like Gore would have nominated Roberts and Alito.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. hey, gotta keep that powder dry, right?

this decision is an abomination. as is the current court.

[Mz Pip]

9. I still see that kind

of thinking here on DU with the "I'll never vote for ____________" comments regarding potential Democratic nominees.

THe worst Democratic president wouldn't nominate another Scalia to the SCOTUS.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[soupkitchen]

10. Ode to the Disassoiciates

I abhor
Rulings five to four
Seems like justice predetermined by eight
And the political whore

[Lerkfish]

12. thank god we kept our powder dry

and submitted to the DLC master plan of capitulation and the gang of 14 nonsense.

see? see how smart it was, "centrists"???

:mad:

[cascadiance]

14. Which is why so-called "centrists" (aka CORPORATISTS!) should be voted out ASAP!

We got Chaffee already! Susan Collins and even some of ours rae next in primary season! Perhaps if we can find good progressive alternatives to the likes of Mary Landrieu, Mark Pryor, etc. as well.

We need to get the corporatists OUT!!!

[Frances]

16. Mary Landrieu

will probably be replaced--by a hard right Republican! And that Republican will vote for someone like Trent Lott or Frist to head the Senate. Instead of concentrating on Dems you don't like, you should be concentrating on Repubs you don't like.

[Lerkfish]

18. we can do both, we're multitaskers! in the end, whether someone from your own team or

the other team kicks the ball in your goal, its still a point against you.

[depakid]

19. After Katrina- Landrieu should be voted out in the primary

for legitimizing and enabling policies that cost her state dearly.

If Louisiana is STUPID enough to put another far right Republican in office after what happened to them- well, I'm sorry to say- I'll have little sympathy left for the next go round.

[Frances]

20. You can ride that high horse

all you want. But I am sick and tired of purists who are responsible for Bush being in the White House. I think the people who voted for Nader are just as guilty as Bush for all of those deaths in Iraq.

[krispos42]

17. And I was mocked when I said Dems should add 2 more Supremes

Sounds like a hell of a good idea to me. Congress decides how many Supremes there are, the President nominates them. January 2009, the Democratic Congress adds two more seats to the SCOTUS and President <Democrat> picks a couple of reasonably frothing liberals. Then it's 6-5 in favor of progressive instead of regressive rulings.

"Oh, no", I was told, "that's packing the courts. You can't do that."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=3316614



Well, shit, we're going to have a neocon, RNC-controlled SCOTUS for a couple of decades now. We've seen what happens when they get control of the Presidency for a mere 6 years.

US (Supreme) court: taxpayers can't sue on faith-based plan
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2892699

Justices put new limit on student speech (Supreme Court, Bong Hits 4 Jesus)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2892714

Court allows issue ads near elections
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2892729

These are all from today and are all regressive. Think twenty more years of this shit is a good idea? We KNOW that Roberts and Scalia were picked precisely because of their neocon agendas, not just because they are conservatives. How do we undo the damage and bias? We can't impeach them, they haven't done anything illegal. So... what? Write them angry letters?

Render them irrelevent. Render them in the minority.