Will a conservative Supreme Court Justice be replaced by a liberal by 2016?

[Pryderi]

[yourout]

1. Even if an opening comes up the right would start a civil war before allowing....

Scalia or Thomas to replaced with a liberal one.

It would be loud and violent beyond description.

[Pryderi]

3. I don't see it happening within the next 20 years.

[sharp_stick]

4. But, it would be fun to watch

I'd love to see the apoplectic fury of the yapping morons of talk radio. Even more fun if a bunch of far left names started to get floated by the White House, not center left, not even liberal but really out there hippy lefties. I'm not saying they would ever nominate a real lefty but it would be a blast to watch.

[Bitwit1234]

13. Bush appointed who he wanted

the wing nuts could scream but Obama has the right to appoint who he wants and there is no way the republicans can stop him.

[Cosmocat]

18. Absolutely ...

the supreme court is their ace in the hole, they are nothing if not dirty rat basturds, and for their sanity, they need to hold out the hope that they have these jerkoffs in place to act unilaterally on the big issues they care about ...

It really is the holy grail to them ...

We have seen NOTHING with the tea partiers the last year over health care in comparison to what we would see if Scalia or Thomas had a stroke or something and BO was to replace him, and do not think for one moment that the MSM would drop ANY pretense of being journalists and not flat out run the meme that a conservative should be replaced by a conservative ...

[sharp_stick]

2. Depends if Fat Tony

keeps chowing on those Calzones. If he or Thomas stroked out I think the Democrats would seriously revisit the nuclear option. If for nothing else it would cause a lot of pukes to seize up and provide hours of viewing pleasure.

I'd be all for it if limpballs died on air while blathering in fury over the thing.

[maxsolomon]

26. the morbidly obese rarely live past 75

so i'd say the odds are good.

[craigmatic]

5. God willing n/t

[IndianaGreen]

6. William O. Douglas was the last true liberal on the Court

Everyone else has been a centrist or an activist conservative.

[OhioBlue]

7. I don't think so. We missed our chance with the 2004 election

to replace a conservative. now, we will just be replacing moderates/liberals.

[Pryderi]

8. Yep. That's my feeling too. It sucks.

[onehandle]

9. No. Thanks, Ralph! nt

[KingFlorez]

10. Anything can happen

I do know that the conservatives on the court will hold on to their seats as long as they can, but that's to say that one of them might not move on. In the event that one of them did leave during Obama's term, what he would do is appoint someone that was center-left and powder dry, much like Sotomayor. The right-wing didn't like her, but there wasn't much they could do to block her, because she didn't have a history as an ideologue.

[political_Dem]

11. Not unless Justice Roberts wakes up with a live boy or dead girl.

;)

[damonm]

12. Not unless Al-Qaeda does requests...n/t

[Pryderi]

19. "....take the cannoli"

[David__77]

14. Scalia is no spring chicken.

He'd be 80 by then.

Also, Kennedy may decide that having Obama replace him might not be the worst that could happen. And he'll be 80 by then too. Life happens, and not everyone lives to 90+ either...

[LiberalFighter]

16. Serve Scalia Pizza Hut cavatini every day. Should give him the runs.

[Joe Bacon]

40. Serve Tony a Fifth Third Burger every day

About a dozen of these should do the trick!

The Fifth Third Burger, all 4300 calories of it :-)

[harun]

21. Seems like SC justices all live past 90!

Scalia going on Obama's watch would be Earth shattering, for Liberals and Conservatives. However, I think there is little chance of it in Obama's first term.

[LiberalFighter]

15. I think there is a very good possibility

We will solidify liberal leaning openings younger ones. And Scalia is likely to retire or die soon before 2016. I seriously doubt that Scalia's health can last long enough. Maybe Obama's next pick will so outrage Scalia that he dies of a heart attack.

And if Roberts has any more seizures he may step down. Especially, if he can't get anything done about pay raises.


(04/20/20) 89 -John Paul Stevens
(03/15/33) 77 -Ruth Bader Ginsberg
(03/11/36) 74 -Antonin Scalia
(07/23/36) 73 -Anthony Kennedy
(08/15/38) 71 -Stephen Breyer
(06/23/48) 61 -Clarence Thomas
(04/01/50) 60 -Sam Alito
(01/27/55) 55 -John Roberts
(06/25/54) 55 -Sonia Sotomayor

[David__77]

17. We can hope to prevent a right-wing majority, at a minimum.

And let's not forget the circuit courts.

[Pryderi]

20. You mean all the nominees that the GOP is blocking?

[Pryderi]

32. Clarence Thomas is only 61??? Holy s*it

[TheKentuckian]

22. I say no but Roberts might leave for $$$$

the rest will probably rot on there for years. Kennedy is a plausible, I guess.

This is why we shouldn't even give even a passing thought to anyone much older than 50.

[Bluenorthwest]

23. I agree Roberts is chomping at the bit for the dough

He could easily walk.

[RoadRage]

24. Who's the oldest conservative justice? Anyone close to leaving?

[NYC Liberal]

25. I'd be happy even if we replaced the current moderates/liberals

With younger ones who will be on the court for a while. Remember that keeping the liberal seats we have already is important too.

But I could see Scalia stepping down - maybe. He's getting up there in years and if he has health problems in the future it's possible. Not that he would want to if a liberal Dem is in office.

[Mr. Blonde]

35. I think Scalia enjoys the job too much

Granted when you are 74 a lot can happen in 6 years to your health. But I think he would have to be in just awful shape to step down.

[TankLV]

27. Healthcare Reform won't pass!

So I never say never anymore...

Stranger things happen and 6 years is a long time off...

[DailyGrind51]

28. President Obama is likely to select a moderate over a progressive replacement.

[11 Bravo]

29. If Scalia's lawn jockey can succeed Thurgood Marshall, surely a liberal justice ...

can replace a con.

[Ter]

30. Is there not a presidential election in 2012?

Jumping to 2016 is silly.

[HughMoran]

31. Maybe

Dunno - maybe Scalia will get shot by Cheney?

:shrug:

[Sebastian Doyle]

33. Well, technically, Stevens is a conservative Justice.

He was a Republican judge, appointed by a Republican President. He just happened to be the last SANE person to fit that description.

So he's the next one to retire (barring any unexpected events) and will be replaced by a Democratic appointee. Of course this won't change the balance of power in the Court for the better. Given some of Obama's appointees, we can only hope it doesn't change it for the worse.

[Tutonic]

34. I think Thomas will be gone. He don't look right.

[Hippo_Tron]

36. Since nobody has made this obligatory snark yet, I guess I get to

If Scalia leaves, who will write Thomas' opinions?

[salguine]

37. Obama will probably appoint someone from Goldman Sachs. It's probably the last

henhouse they haven't been put in charge of yet.

[Phx_Dem]

38. I don't know. I'm not psychic. But I can hope.

[ClarkUSA]

39. If Kennedy retires, then we'll get the deciding vote. He's pretty old and won't hold out that long

I hope.