Justices Stevens and Ginsberg will probably retire.....

[liberalitch]

in the past couple of days I have often thought that instead of SOS hillary should have SCOTUS spot..... or what about John Kerry for a SCOTUS spot?

[TexasProgresive]

1. That's fine

but in 8 1/2 years I want Roberts to step down and the Democratic president to name Barrack Obama as chief Justice of the Supreme court.

[LynneSin]

5. Unless Roberts gets terminal disease of some sort he'll be around for awhile

Personally I think the President should be able to pick the new Chief Justice but that's just my opinion. Roberts I think is just shy of 50 so he could be around for the next 30-40 years.

:scared:

[jobycom]

7. Is meanness a terminal disease?

[LynneSin]

8. one that makes him step down in 8.5 years

there's a reason why Roberts was picked over anyone like Alito, Scalia or Thomas - Roberts was the youngest

[jobycom]

19. Shouldn't it, though?

Wouldn't that be nice?

Actually, Supreme Court Justices don't serve for "life," they serve "on good behavior." That's rarely been tested except for a couple of impeachment hearings, but I'm not sure that the Constitution didn't mean for a president to be able to remove a justice for lapses in "good behavior." To me, that wouldn't mean personal morality so much as misuse of office, or lack or judicial integrity. I thought, for instance, that Thomas and Scalia could have been removed for not recusing themselves from Bush v Gore when they had clear family conflicts of interest, or even that a Justice could be removed for repeatedly failing to live up to high judicial standards--like Thomas.

But that's me, and they haven't made me supreme interpreter of the Constitution yet. Hell, I'm not even Supreme Interpreter of my life anymore! :rofl:

[Bunny]

15. Roberts' father just died today. He was 80.

I think Roberts will be around for a long time.

[jobycom]

20. Condolences to the family. nt

[Winterblues]

16. It is possible that he will be around when a person not even born yet becomes President.

:shrug: He is an ideologue and America is going to suffer because of him and his decisions..

[underpants]

12. Roberts isn't going anywhere for a long time

just saying

[madaboutharry]

2. I don't think Hillary Clinton would be happy on the SC.

She seems to have way too much energy swirling around her for the sedentary academic environment of the SC.

[Ian David]

3. If we give Hillary a lifetime appointment, we'll never have to deal with her campaigning again. n/t

[LynneSin]

10. Chelsea might run

I mean that could happen

[Ian David]

11. Chelsea's cool. n/t

[HereSince1628]

4. Whatever happened to appointing Constitutional scholars with judicial experience?

It beats the hell out of me why we can't advocate people who have demonstrated background and publication record respected within the legal community.

[jobycom]

14. I agree, and posted the same thing at the same time, but then there's Earl Warren.

Never a judge, always a politician, and one of the most noteworthy justices in our history.

Law is built on precedent and coded doctrine, and I wonder if sometimes legal scholars are so bound by tradition and momentum that they can't see beyond their gavels. Maybe now and then an outsider with legislative and executive experience can see the real effects of the law, and maybe even the true purpose of the law, rather than just the letter of the law.

Not that legal scholars don't understand this already. Just that there are maybe personality differences between the type of person drawn to a practical leadership role as an executive, and the type drawn to a life of contemplative analysis on the bench or the academic podium.

Overall, though, I agree I'd rather see legal minds chosen for than politicians rewarded with appointments to the Court.

[HereSince1628]

23. If we are ever to have Judges that can win arguments with the Federalist Society/Opus Dei plants

who currently occupy the court we must have appointments with great minds that have a commanding knowledge of legal scholarship.

I voted for Obama because I thought a smart guy would insist on being surrounded by smarter folks. I hope I get what I voted for.

[jobycom]

24. Gordian knot.

Sometimes the only way to win an argument with someone bent on obfuscation is to cut through the argument to the heart of the issue.

My main hope for Obama's appointments is that he chooses people on qualifications and consistent ideology, and not on a political rewards system. So I think we are coming from the same direction, wanting legal scholars on the Court rather than putting Clinton there just because we want to find a use for her. I'm just saying that sometimes when things have been stagnant for a long time it's a good idea to look for something completely different. Of course, Eisenhower chose Warren to oppose desegregation, and got the opposite of what he wanted, so he's not the best example.

[HereSince1628]

25. Yes, I'm agreeing with you. Just pointing out that a Conservative-Court backing the Culture War

has been a goal of the right-wing since Jerold Ford. And they have largely achieved that.
They have some sharp minds on the Court, those must be countered with other sharp minds, not political appointments.

[RaleighNCDUer]

27. He was never a judge, but he did have his law degree and spent

25 years as a district attorney or Attorney General - he knew a thing or two about the law. There was nothing about him that was unqualified.

[rvablue]

26. It is much more important for a nominee to have a history of

Constitutional scholarship than a history of working somewhere in the judiciary.

[HereSince1628]

28. Commanding legal scholarship can be manifest in either decisions or scholarly papers

Perhaps I should have used a disjunctive "or"

[jobycom]

6. There are a lot of qualified judges and legal scholars who built their lives

around a respect for the law and not around a political career. I'd like to see those candidates sought out and appointed.

I wouldn't mind Clinton (either one) as a Justice, but I think there are better uses for her, and more prepared people for the Court. For that matter, Bill was a law professor for a while, so maybe he would be a decent choice.

Just my thoughts. Not passionate either way, though.

[onenote]

9. highly unlikely that obama would appoint a senator to the SCOTUS

Its unlikely that Obama would nominate someone to the SCOTUS who didn't have judicial experience or, at minimum, experience as an attorney general, either at the federal level or the state level or a high level, highly regarded academic. Someone who is viewed principally as a partisan politician isn't going to be picked by obama, imo.

[blueraven95]

13. personally, I hope they are replaced by people

in their 40s - so they'll be on the bench for 30-40+ years.

[TexasObserver]

17. That's what I want: Five under Fifty.

If I can see Obama replace Stevens, Ginsberg, Breyer, Souter, and Kennedy, I'll know the Supreme Court is safe for the rest of my life, and maybe then some.

I want 5 new appointees, all under 50 years old (or there about), so they can serve a long time each.

[ben_meyers]

18. Since Ginsburg's is the Jewish woman's seat now

I suggest that Obama reach back to the Clinton years once again and appoint Monica Lewinsky to the Supreme Court.

Makes as much sense as what has been happening so far.

[retread]

22. She would just blow it. n/t

[Peacetrain]

21. I am just so glad Obama and not McCain will be picking the next justices