Kagan: In Bush v. Gore, Court Was Affected by Politics and Policy

[The Damned]

Source: The Huffington Post

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan wrote in 2003 that the court's decision to effectively grant George W. Bush the 2000 election was an example of politics and policy affecting the process of judicial review.

In preparatory notes for remarks she delivered to Princeton alumni in June of that year, the soon-to-be dean of Harvard Law School clearly suggested that in Bush v. Gore, the court strayed from strict judicial mores.

"Courts have indisputable role to play in system - one check (of many) on dangers of majority institutions," the note reads -- with abbreviations spelled out.

"But on other hand.... There does remain a problem. Problem of Platonic Guardians, deciding what we the people can + can't do," Kagan went on. "If Judicial Review were mechanical, wouldn't be issue. 'That's their job.... Read the constitution.... Apply it to prevent majority's attempts to violate it."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/19/kagan-in-bush-v-gore-cour_n_581511.html

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Well, I am shocked! Shocked, I say! Rehnquist-O'Connor-Scalia-Kennedy-Thomas affected by politics?????

[onehandle]

1. George W. Bush. Selected, not elected. nt

[Neron616]

9. Until '04

Remember the head line in London? "How Can 59,000,000 People Be So DUMB?"

[BunkerHill24]

11. darn, that was an amazing poster..I wish I kept it.

[4lbs]

15. Well, here's a good-sized decent quality rendition of it.

[BunkerHill24]

16. you are too nice...I thank you.

[BunkerHill24]

17. you are too nice...I thank you.

[The Hope Mobile]

25. The only difference was 04 was more covert

That Daily Mirror cover is on my mouse pad. LOVE it!

[Neron616]

29. That's it!

Thank you for posting! :-)

[CBHagman]

41. It bears repeating, doesn't it?

U.S. ELECTION DISASTER.

Leave it to the British...

[Jackpine Radical]

14. The answer is, we weren't that dumb. Not all of us, not the 59 mil.

I think that in a fair election Kerry would have won by a pretty good margin. I bought but haven't yet read Richard Charnin (TIA)'s book and don't have his exact numbers at hand, but his earlier postings absolutely convinced me of the theft.

Let me plug the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=election+fraud&x=0&y=0

[bitchkitty]

21. Agreed - those elections were

fatally flawed. He didn't win either time, and neither did many of the "winners" of 2004.

[Enthusiast]

23. The American people lost--big time. nt

[The Damned]

35. Yeah

Funny how 5-4 ends up equaling 5,000+ dead American troops. Except that it's really not funny at all!

[chimpymustgo]

47. Ding ding ding!!!!

[valerief]

18. 59 million people didn't control Diebold. nt

[Raster]

27. Bush* was not elected in 2004 either. At least not fairly and legally.

Many of the exact same dirty tricks used in Florida during Selection 2000 were imported to Ohio and utilized to affect the Election 2004 outcome.

[onehandle]

31. Incumbents tend to return to office... One way or another. nt

[unpossibles]

34. call me crazy but I still think they cheated that one too

There were just too many anomalies in that election to discount, as well as the standard GOP SOP "let's try to prevent people from voting" thing.

[tabasco]

37. Here ya go. A low moment in US history.

[DonCoquixote]

2. What is being missed

Is that by saying this, she is telling Scalia that he f_ed up. This is a shot fired over the bow.

[No Elephants]

7. He knows what he did. That's why his comment on the case consists of "Get over it."

[Big Orange Jeff]

13. Remember, too, that the court took the unusual step of...

... forbidding the use of the ruling as a precedent in the future. They KNEW they were making a dishonest ruling, and they were smart enough to prevent it in the future.

What d-bags...

[BEZERKO]

12. Good,

I just hope we can get one of the conservatives replaced soon. What a nightmare with the kids Bush appointed.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dballance]

28. Sadly, He has no remorse

He probably doesn't even think of the thousands of soldiers and the innocent Iraqis and Afghanis whose blood is on his hands.

[jobycom]

33. Oh, she's doing much more than that. He didn't really fuck up, because he meant to do

what he did. He knew it was a non-judicial ruling. He knew because Souter told him, over and over, before and after the ruling.

What Kagan did was tell Scalia she knows what he did. That's even worse. Scalia loves to believe he's the smartest guy in the room. Kagan shows him he isn't. That alone may be worth getting her on the court.

[defendandprotect]

3. K&R

[Igel]

4. More important is what she said about executive authority.

Most people have an echoed, distorted idea of what "unitary executive" means. It doesn't mean the ability to ignore Congress under the War Powers Act, or engage in warrantless wiretaping. Those are extraneous to the concept.

It means that the chief executive has sole authority over the executive branch. Not Congress. Having a "bough" of the executive branch that's under joint Congressional authority, having quasi-independent "executive" agencies, making sure that such-and-such an administrative official is free of executive oversight and meddling, *those* are what the unitary executive "theory" takes issue with.

The first two issues are the usual power struggles between the executive and legislative or the executive and judicial branches. Most "unitary executive" types also favor a strong presidency, but that's not part of the "theory" per se. At least for those who actually formulated it and understand what it was before a lot of hangers-on and advocates (as well as opponents) got a hold of the word.

Note that Kagan is crucially asked the "So, how hypocritical are you?" It's one thing to support close control over the entire executive branch by the chief executive when your guy is in that office; it's another thing to continue to support that view when the opposite holds the office. Her view: It doesn't matter.

The difference between "close control over the entire administration" is very close to what the "unitary executive theory" would say--in practice, if not in choice of verbiage.

[Kolesar]

8. thanks...eom

[Kahuna]

5. She only said that because it's true.

:patriot:

[harun]

48. Agree, I got no problem with true statements.

[tom_paine]

6. That's a positive sign.

[Skink]

10. Scalia called it.

then he said I'm rubber and your glue.

[The Damned]

36. Wasn't that the opening sentence in his latest opinion?

:evilgrin:

[alp227]

19. It all started with Fox News that night.

One of the staff at FNC was Dubya's cousin and changed the Fox News call from Gore to Bush. The other networks followed suit a few minutes later.

And then the Republicans circled around Bush, starting with the Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who'd earlier dropped a bunch of black (and Hispanic?) voters incorrectly as "felons" from the voting rolls.

A gang of right-wing astroturfers (think FreedomWorks, the front group that grew the Tea Party) disrupt the recount.

And finally the Supreme Court sucks it up for Boosh and leaves the nation utterly screwed up by the end of the 2000s.

Kagan's point is seldom expressed in the mainstream corporate-controlled Bush-hugging media these days. Good for her for calling out the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

[Hekate]

22. Kagen is definitely a good pick

:thumbsup:

[The Damned]

44. Bottom line, the President that we elected chose her

The same President that you and I shall be voting for again less than thirty months hence. I've been stating this here for more than a week.

[HughBeaumont]

24. Lincoln Shot! Titanic Sinks! Obama Elected President!

Geeeez, can I get a DUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRR from the crowd?

Dead Billy, Fat Tony and Uncle Thomas had to be the biggest arch-fascist ace-in-the-hole SCOTUS plants ever. Kennedy . . . not as bad, but you knew he was still on the side of shite no matter what.

"Mrs. 5-4" was the clincher. The Failure Fuhrer IS Sandy's legacy. FOREVER. She did not HAVE to do this, but she did anyway. She CHOSE to side with dishonorable pigs in deciding a state-run election based on partisan leanings and nullifying an investigation/count that, in hindsight, would have saved nearly 1,000,000 lives worldwide.

And as long as Sandra feels the deaths of 1 million people (possibly more thanks to zero talk of universal health care) and the exacerbated economic ruin of the USA on one single solitary person's slimy vote is not worth apologizing for, then as far as I'm concerned, she can continue to symbolically scrub the blood off of her hands until she grows a conscience and owns up to her horrible decision.

The Filthy Five. Only takes a spark to get some arson going . . .

[Shining Jack]

32. + 1000000 n/t

[thereismore]

26. She is smart. I like her. nt

[KansDem]

30. So who's interests were being served with "Bush v. Gore?"

Corporate? Conservatives? MIC? :shrug:

[judesedit]

38. Let's call a spade a spade. The election was stolen in 2004 which has already been testified to

by the software engineers that switched the votes to Bush at GOP's strong-arming. Wake up and see the truth, people. This country has been as corrupt or more corrupt than any other country. $$$$$$$ is the bottom line and they don't care what they have to do or say or who they have to kill to get it. Now that the truth is being exposed, let's hope we can salvage a little decency yet. Our children have to live in this world.

[judesedit]

39. Go Kagan!

.

[usregimechange]

40. I am guessing your profile picture is in some way connected to your username

at any rate, thanks for posting.

[The Damned]

45. Actually, no: I LOVE Colorado!

As for my username, well, I just kinda thought it was a good fit! ;-)

[w4rma]

42. Very good. (nt)

[Senator]

43. Far Too Little, Far Too Late

This was obvious at the time to anyone not willfully ignorant.

The only mystery is why those who could have stood up to defend our now-preterit Constitution -- Kagan, Tribe, Gore, Cinton(s) -- failed to follow Justice Breyer's instruction (in dissent) and demand that Congress disallow the unlawful FL electors.

Like Obama, she'll make an all-too-fitting icon of Our Lamest Generation.

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[NJmaverick]

46. K & R!