CONSERVATIVES HYPERVENTILATING OVER SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENT

What exactly are conservatives afraid of?

Washington, D.C.--  Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 1975 just 19 days after he was nominated. His successor can expect a far more arduous confirmation process.  The nomination and appointment of our next Supreme Court Justice will no doubt dominate the news cycles for the remainder of 2010. 

President Obama's choice to replace Stevens will be one of the most important decisions he'll ever make in our lifetime. That's because right now, the current Supreme Court is packed with right-wing Republican appointments. The Court is threatening our democracy by dramatically expanding the power of big corporations and conservatives can now feel the status quo slipping away.

For instance, earlier this year in the case known as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, they decided that corporations have the right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections. If corporations have more influence, they're going to continue to rig the system to create even larger profits for their CEOs at the expense of taxpayers, labor unions, environmentalists and civil rights advocates.

President Obama should be looking for a Supreme Court nominee who will affect the Court in a very strategic way. He previously talked about how the Court is out of touch with everyday Americans. We saw him take that swipe at the Supreme Court in the State of the Union address back in January. Remembering this sort of thing gives me some hope.  Remember that thing, hope?

While Mr. Obama's first nominee Justice Sonia Sotomayor was largely seen as a political appointment, the president should still think about how this new nominee and the new justice would affect the social balance and dynamics of tomorrow's Supreme Court.

While Stevens retirement has been expected for several months, the timing of his announcement was somewhat premature. It set off a firestorm of right-wing rhetoric about what is to come.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted against Sotomayor. In a statement, he warned the president of the lessons learned from Sotomayor's confirmation.

Sessions called Sotomayor's confirmation "The rejection of President Obama's empathy standard, the flawed notion that judges should allow personal feelings, political opinions, and social views to guide judicial decision-making." What the hell is Sessions talking about? In case he hasn't heard, Sotomayor was confirmed by a 61 to 38 vote, that's hardly rejection of Obama’s selection process.

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, another senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, warned in a statement that "someone who would be an activist judge, who would substitute their own views for what the law requires, is not qualified to serve on the federal bench." But true to the Republican spirit, that is exactly what happened when Dubya appointed Judge Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader from Kentucky said in a statement, "As we await the president's nominee to replace Justice Stevens at the end of his term, Americans can expect Senate Republicans to make a sustained and vigorous case for judicial restraint and the fundamental importance of an even-handed reading of the law." Other Republican gasbags have weighed in with similar warnings as well.

Some observers say no matter whom the candidate is, the party of "NO" will give Obama a hard time. However, various news reports are also suggesting the president may choose one of two women to replace Justice Stevens. The names of Seventh Circuit Federal Judge Diane Wood and Solicitor General Elena Kagan are the names of the candidates, while Washington, D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland is a strong candidate as well.

Kagan is former dean of Harvard Law School. She has represented the United States in the Supreme Court. She's a very qualified candidate with sparkling credentials. And, some conservatives may support her because she hired a lot of conservatives at Harvard. Could this be an easy out for Obama?

But maybe, just maybe, Obama might want to duke it out with congressional Republicans one more time and go for a more progressive nominee. After all, he seems to have a renewed sense of vigor coming off the healthcare bill being signed into law.  How does Justice Hillary Rodham Clinton sound?  Wouldn't that be eventful?  I guess us liberals will just have to sit tight for a while and keep our fingers crossed. Between you and me, I’m still waiting for that change I can believe in.

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens

Written by Ove Overmyer.  The opinions expressed here are the authors only, and does not reflect the views of CSEA.