"Republican presidential candidate John McCain has pledged to choose new justices who are like..."

[Hissyspit]

"Republican presidential candidate John McCain has pledged to choose new justices who are like President George W. Bush's two appointees: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr."

I'll repeat that.

"Republican presidential candidate John McCain has pledged to choose new justices who are like President George W. Bush's two appointees: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr."

Just a reminder of what we are working for, and against... The court's makeup is already ideologically uglier and more ignorant than any in my lifetime. John W. McCain wants to fuck you, fuck your children and fuck your children's children for generations to come by making it WORSE.


As quoted from today's article in the LA Times:

Supreme Court blocs rarely wavered

The ideological divide was so evident this term that outcomes in most major cases could be nearly predicted. Once again, Justice Kennedy often cast the deciding vote in 5-4 decisions.

By David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 29, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ended its annual term last week just where it began: evenly divided between conservative and liberal blocs of four justices, with the deciding votes cast by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

And this year, unlike last, the outcomes of cases seemed evenly split as well. Both liberal and conservative sides won major victories countered by stinging defeats.

The near-even split also carries an election-year message for voters about the power of the presidency to set the future direction of the high court.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has pledged to choose new justices who are like President Bush's two appointees: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

By contrast, Democratic rival Barack Obama has pointed with favor to Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David H. Souter. The latter is a Republican and an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, although he votes regularly with the court's liberal bloc.

This year, as usual, the major rulings came at the term's end, and Kennedy, the 71-year-old Sacramento native and President Reagan appointee, played the deciding role.

He spoke for the liberal bloc in two big cases. One rejected the Bush administration's policy of total military control over detainees held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and said the prisoners have a right to plead for their freedom before a federal judge.

The other case limited the death penalty to crimes involving murder. A 5-4 ruling rejected a move in Louisiana and five other states to extend capital punishment to individuals who are convicted of raping a child.

But the conservative bloc also prevailed in three important decisions, thanks to Kennedy's vote. For the first time, the court ruled that the 2nd Amendment protects rights of individual gun owners, not just a state's right to organize a militia. This 5-4 decision is likely to be the opening salvo in a long legal war between advocates of gun rights and gun control.

- snip -

The two oldest members of the court, Justices John Paul Stevens, 88, and Ginsburg, 75, are among its most reliable liberals. If Obama replaced them, the court's balance would probably remain unchanged.

But McCain could tip the balance to the right if he were to replace Stevens or Ginsburg with a conservative.

The conservatives are the youngest members of the Supreme Court. Roberts is 53, Alito is 58, and Justice Clarence Thomas turned 60 last week.

MORE AT THE LINK

[agentS]

1. The conservative most likely to leave the bench.

I myself wonder if that should be the diving line between voting for a candidate or not.

In the meantime, we must determine which conservative is most likely to leave the bench.
Is it Scalia? He seems to be out to lunch lately.
Thomas? He seems to be getting more and more bitter in old age.
Alito and Roberts will be there for a while, but Roberts is the worst because he's Chief Justice.

[fasttense]

2. Roberts and Alito are not justices.

They are politicians in black robes. There is no justice in what Roberts and Alito do. They do not deserve the title.

[Hissyspit]

3. .

[DFW]

4. This is SUCH a vital issue in this election

I wish I could repeat it in the sleep of those who won't vote Democratic because
A. it isn't Hillary, B. "I don't have to do what the party wants," C. "corporatists!"
D. Obama isn't Ralph Nader E. Obama isn't Dennis Kucinich, F. Mama always like my
brother best F. any combination of the above

The next Supreme Court justice could end up deciding, should you get arrested and
for some reason convicted of a murder you did not commit, whether you have a chance
to clear your name, or whether you get killed by ritual State murder. They could
decide if you can get the shit kicked out of you for no reason by someone with a
uniform, and you can't do a damn thing about it. They could decide if some big company
can pollute the ground under your feet and the water you drink without having to tell
you about it or help you if you get sick.

Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito never met a death sentence or a big business they
didn't like. A refusal to vote for Obama, whether we like it or not, is a vote for
more of that, and enforcing it as the law of the land. I still say vote your conscience,
but if your conscience justifies more SCOTUS justices like those putrid four, you must
live in a very, very cold place, and I'm not talking about what the thermometer shows
in mid-January, either.

[babylonsister]

5. We are doomed if it ever gets this far. nt