Sonia Sotomayor

New Supreme Court Term Begins Today!

Ronald 2 Comments

The Supreme Court begins its new term this morning, and it is the youngest Court in many years!

This Court is unique in that it includes three women for the first time! But it also includes six Catholics and three Jews, so for the first term ever there are no Protestants on the Court!

Not that long ago, the Court was ONLY white Protestants, but now has become a Court of “minorities”, including an African American, an Hispanic or Latino, and two Italians, beyond the Catholics, Jews and women already mentioned!

The Court is now averaging in the mid fifties in age, due to the comparative youth of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s two Supreme Court appointments!

But this Court is still seen as leaning to the right, and it is not expected there will be any noticeable difference in Court decisions with Kagan replacing John Paul Stevens!

Cases involving illegal immigration and freedom of speech will highlight the Court’s term between now and next June!

As always, the Supreme Court will have the influence that former Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes stated in one sentence, often quoted, during the 1930s but repeated ever since–“The Constitution is what the Supreme Court says it is!”

Elena Kagan Confirmed As Associate Justice Of Supreme Court!

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Solicitor General and former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan was confirmed today by a vote of 63-37 to be the newest Associate Justice of the Supreme Court!

Kagan became the fourth woman in the Court’s history, and the second appointment of President Obama! She also became the first non judicial experience member of the Court since William Rehnquist!

She received the support of all Democrats, except Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson! She also received the backing of only five Republicans–Olympia Snow, Susan Collins, Judd Gregg, Lindsey Graham, and Richard Lugar, as compared to the nine Republicans who backed Sonia Sotomayor last year (who won her seat by a margin of 68-32)!

Kagan can be seen as a worthy successor to John Paul Stevens, who served the fourth longest time on the Supreme Court, and she inherits a seat not only occupied by Stevens, but earlier by William O. Douglas (longest serving Justice in history) and Louis Brandeis (often considered the number one or two Supreme Court Justice in history)!

Women Justices And The Changing Supreme Court: Is It For Real?

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The Supreme Court seems more and more to be a very conservative, almost reactionary, Court in so many ways, but David Broder of the Washington Post believes that having three women on the Court at the same time (Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan) has to affect the Supreme Court in ways hard to fathom now!

The author hopes the role of women will have a positive effect, but the problem is that it is likely that Ruth Bader Ginsberg will leave the Court before the Presidential election, and that it will be impossible for Obama to select a replacement as liberal as Ginsberg has been!

This is particularly true with a Senate bound to be of a smaller Democratic majority, and even the slight possibility of a GOP majority! 🙁

So it seems likely that in comparison to now, the Supreme Court might actually be MORE conservative, as a result, than it is right now! 🙁

Senator Lindsey Graham And The Supreme Court: A Profile In Courage!

Ronald 3 Comments

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina can be considered the “maverick” in Republican ranks, now that Senator John McCain of Arizona claims he is not now, and never has been, a maverick, despite his constant assertions over the years that he was a maverick!

Graham is the new “profile in courage” in the GOP, as he has been critical of the Tea Party Movement, and has shown willingness to work with the Obama Administration on some issues!

He is considered a “traitor” within the Tea Party Movement and his own party, particularly in South Carolina, and will probably face conservative opposition when he next faces the voters in 2014, but he is not concerning himself with that at this point, more than four years away from that challenge!

Yesterday, Graham was the only Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to back Elena Kagan’s nomination for the Supreme Court, as it was reported out, and is ready to go to the Senate floor for final confirmation!

Graham reprimanded the other GOP senators on the committee, reasserting his earlier stated view on the Supreme Court, when Sonia Sotomayor was up for confirmation last summer!

That statement was that as long as the nominee of the President is qualified, one should give him the respect of supporting his nominee, as he was the winner of the presidential election, and should be entitled to whoever he wants to put on the Supreme Court! As Graham put it, when the voters speak, we should all respect that, and support the President in his right to choose whoever he wants, again as long as the person meets the standard of appropriate qualifications!

It will be interesting to see how many Republican Senators back Kagan in the final vote, as nine of them supported Sotomayor last summer!

Again, plaudits to Lindsey Graham for showing principle and courage! 🙂

The Effect Of New York City On The Supreme Court

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With the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, that august body will now have, upon confirmation of Kagan, four members who spent their early years and much of their life in New York City, and ironically, in different boroughs of the city!

Antonin Scalia spent his formative years in Queens County; Ruth Bader Ginsberg in Brooklyn; Sonia Sotomayor in the Bronx; and Elena Kagan in Manhattan!

Also, the liberal bloc on the Court will consist of the three women and Justice Stephen Breyer, and that will mean the three Jewish members of the Court, along with its first Hispanic or Latino member, will be seen by the hinterland as out of touch with America. But realize the long range historical effect of New York City and State on American history, and one can understand why the city and state have had such an impact!

There has long been a tendency to favor New York for Justices, including, among others, Benjamin Cardozo, Felix Frankfurter, Charles Evans Hughes, and John Jay.

So the New York and Northeastern influence on the Court is an interesting reality, particularly at a time when the Tea Party Movement seems to be striking out against modern America, which is primarily influenced by that center of culture and commerce!

After all, even the terrorists see New York City as the center of America in ways that cannot be matched anywhere else in the nation!

The Supreme Court Membership In Flux

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We have a new member of the Supreme Court in the new term about to begin–Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

But we also have some flux evident, as there is the possibility of TWO new appointees by 2010–to replace Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Justice Stevens is 89 this year, still in excellent health, but by deciding not to appoint new law clerks for more than a year, causes speculation that he may retire next summer, which would mean he would not break the record for longevity or age, which would only occur if he stayed on the Court to the year 2012.

Justice Ginsburg has had colon and now pancreatic cancer, and this week felt faint, and was taken to the hospital, although now she has been released. It is sad to say that most patients who have had pancreatic cancer do not survive for long, although Ginsburg has been given a clean bill of health. Still, the likelihood is that she might leave soon.

So Barack Obama may have two new appointments, and it would seem to me that these retirements after distinguished years of service would be best if they did occur next summer, before the midterm elections, as there may be a smaller Democratic margin after those elections, making a Supreme Court appointment then much more problematical.

While neither justice retiring will change the balance of the Court, it will be good for Obama to pick two fairly liberal justices who would bring comparative youth and vigor to the Court before any possible change of balance in the Senate. So it is hoped that Ginsburg will decide to retire due to her earlier health problems, and that Stevens, despite being therefore unable to break records, will realize that after 35 years on the Court, it is time to go. It is difficult to give up power and status, but it would be good for the Court and the country for this to occur next summer.