WWTBAM Bored

Numerous media outlets (but not all) are reporting that Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died today in Texas.

I certainly was no fan of Scalia, but he served on the highest Court in this country for almost 30 years and deserves respect for himself and the office.

The Republicans have already announced they won't approve any Obama nominee this year, which isn't surprising. But, as a practical matter that means that the court will be short-handed for at least a year. If a Supreme Court decision winds up being 4-4, that means that the lower court decision is upheld but that the ruling has no precedential effect. So, as a practical matter, it means that if the liberal bloc stays together, then there is almost no chance of a conservative decision on the various major issues left this term, including the Texas affirmative action case, the public union dues case, the latest abortion restriction case, and the Obamacare religious exemption case. The Court may simply defer some of those cases and reargue them next term, but if a new justice takes the bench in March or April, there may not be much time for any additional oral arguments.

Plus, considering the age of some of the other justices, there could be another vacancy before the new president takes office.

For what it's worth, I think that Obama should go through with the nomination process and let the Republicans stop it. The Republicans have done the same thing bringing Obamacare repeals up over and over again, so I think it's important to get on record who is stopping the process the next time the Republicans rail on about Obama abusing the Constitution.

The last Supreme Court justice confirmed during the last year of a President's term was Kennedy in 1988. He was appointed in late 1987 after Bork's nomination was defeated and Ginsburg's was withdrawn, so it's not really an analogous situation here. Before that, Justice Brennan in 1956 was the last Justice so appointed.

I think it's a case of justices choosing to stay on to allow the new President to choose their successor, but obviously in Scalia's case or other cases of death or illness, that's not an option.

This absolutely ensures that the Supreme Court will be a central issue of this election. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:This absolutely ensures that the Supreme Court will be a central issue of this election. --Bob

The name that I've seen mentioned is Sri Srinivasan, whom Obama appointed to the DC Court of Appeals a couple of years back. He was confirmed by a 97-0 vote, including McConnell, Cruz and Rubio, making it more politically awkward for them to oppose him now. He was a deputy solicitor general and before that in private practice represented a number of powerful corporations in appellate cases.

While it's almost a certainty he'd be more liberal than Scalia, I haven't seen discussion of many of his decisions. The only one I can find is this case upholding a 1949 law banning protestors on the Supreme Court plaza, the open area surrounding the Court building that contains the lower set of steps leading up to the building itself (which has its own attached set of steps). He basically said that you have to draw the line somewhere of how for to allow protestors and this seemed reasonable (it was a 3-0 decision, the other two judges being Reagan and Bush, Sr. appointees).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html

You all realize, of course, that if any Obama nom is blocked until he leaves office, and Trump...shudder....wins...ladies and gents, your next Supreme Court Justice....

T_Bone0806 wrote:You all realize, of course, that if any Obama nom is blocked until he leaves office, and Trump...shudder....wins...ladies and gents, your next Supreme Court Justice....

I thought she was already on the Supreme Court.

bazodee wrote:

T_Bone0806 wrote:You all realize, of course, that if any Obama nom is blocked until he leaves office, and Trump...shudder....wins...ladies and gents, your next Supreme Court Justice....

I thought she was already on the Supreme Court.

In all seriousness, I don't think she'd do that. It'd be too much of a pay cut.

(Seriously, I understand that she makes something less than Oprah did -- but not by much. More than one report has it north of $40 million a year.)

SpacemanSpiff wrote:

bazodee wrote:

T_Bone0806 wrote:You all realize, of course, that if any Obama nom is blocked until he leaves office, and Trump...shudder....wins...ladies and gents, your next Supreme Court Justice....

I thought she was already on the Supreme Court.

In all seriousness, I don't think she'd do that. It'd be too much of a pay cut.

(Seriously, I understand that she makes something less than Oprah did -- but not by much. More than one report has it north of $40 million a year.)

Don't undersell Judge Judy...

lb13

Along with Judge Judy's 45M+ a year there is also that workload of 52 days a year.

MarkBarrett wrote:Along with Judge Judy's 45M+ a year there is also that workload of 52 days a year.

That workload sounds like how many days some US Senators are actually working in the Senate. <rimshot>

Alex Jones already saying Scalia was murdered by Obama, and Trump is next...

Jeemie wrote:Alex Jones already saying Scalia was murdered by Obama, and Trump is next...

That can't be true. I haven't heard it on "Coast to Coast" yet.

You know who I really feel bad for? Clarence Thomas. He lost his BFF the day before Valentine's Day.

Fate is a cruel mistress.

Pastor Fireball wrote:You know who I really feel bad for? Clarence Thomas. He lost his BFF the day before Valentine's Day.

Fate is a cruel mistress.

Actually, it was Ruth Ginsberg who was Scalia's BFF on the Supreme Court.

Most people seemed to say good things about Scalia, even if they disagreed with his politics. I just wonder how he was able to take a private jet trip to such an expensive resort on his relatively modest government salary ($244,000/year). If someone else paid for it, you have to wonder what they hoped to get in return.

TheConfessor wrote:

Pastor Fireball wrote:You know who I really feel bad for? Clarence Thomas. He lost his BFF the day before Valentine's Day.

Fate is a cruel mistress.

Actually, it was Ruth Ginsberg who was Scalia's BFF on the Supreme Court.

Most people seemed to say good things about Scalia, even if they disagreed with his politics. I just wonder how he was able to take a private jet trip to such an expensive resort on his relatively modest government salary ($244,000/year). If someone else paid for it, you have to wonder what they hoped to get in return.

Lots of water rights issues there. Lots of interest in golf courses there. Perhaps Vandal can do a quick draft of "The Bentgrass Brief".

TheConfessor wrote: I just wonder how he was able to take a private jet trip to such an expensive resort on his relatively modest government salary ($244,000/year). If someone else paid for it, you have to wonder what they hoped to get in return.

Just speculating, I'm sure he didn't pay for the trip (or at least all of it), but I doubt his SCOTUS salary was his only source of income. Didn't he write a couple books? (And I'm sure he's done speaking engagements in which he was compensated).

Jeemie wrote:Alex Jones already saying Scalia was murdered by Obama, and Trump is next...

People are really saying that??????? I thought SteelersFan was joking......

SportsFan68 wrote:

Jeemie wrote:Alex Jones already saying Scalia was murdered by Obama, and Trump is next...

People are really saying that??????? I thought SteelersFan was joking......

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/a ... trump-next

TheConfessor wrote:

Pastor Fireball wrote:You know who I really feel bad for? Clarence Thomas. He lost his BFF the day before Valentine's Day.

Fate is a cruel mistress.

Actually, it was Ruth Ginsberg who was Scalia's BFF on the Supreme Court.

Most people seemed to say good things about Scalia, even if they disagreed with his politics. I just wonder how he was able to take a private jet trip to such an expensive resort on his relatively modest government salary ($244,000/year). If someone else paid for it, you have to wonder what they hoped to get in return.

He also had a relationship with Kagen:

Antonin Scalia Actually Rooted For Elena Kagen's Nomination
Scalia and Kagan forged a friendship as duck hunting buddies.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/14/opinions/ ... index.html

Bob Juch wrote:

TheConfessor wrote:

Pastor Fireball wrote:You know who I really feel bad for? Clarence Thomas. He lost his BFF the day before Valentine's Day.

Fate is a cruel mistress.

Actually, it was Ruth Ginsberg who was Scalia's BFF on the Supreme Court.

Most people seemed to say good things about Scalia, even if they disagreed with his politics. I just wonder how he was able to take a private jet trip to such an expensive resort on his relatively modest government salary ($244,000/year). If someone else paid for it, you have to wonder what they hoped to get in return.

He also had a relationship with Kagen:

Antonin Scalia Actually Rooted For Elena Kagen's Nomination
Scalia and Kagan forged a friendship as duck hunting buddies.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/14/opinions/ ... index.html

Ironically, 10 years ago Friday was a the date of an infamous duck hunting accident involving a politician in Texas.

SpacemanSpiff wrote: Ironically, 10 years ago Friday was a the date of an infamous duck hunting accident involving a politician in Texas.

Quail hunting, actually. Cheney is now 75 and Whittington will be 89 next month. According to Wikipedia, Cheney has never apologized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Chen ... g_incident

TheConfessor wrote:According to Wikipedia, Cheney has never apologized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Chen ... g_incident

I don't see that in the article you've provided.

Estonut wrote:

TheConfessor wrote:According to Wikipedia, Cheney has never apologized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Chen ... g_incident

I don't see that in the article you've provided.

You're right. This is where I saw it. The other article was clearer about it being a quail hunt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Whittington

TheConfessor wrote: You're right. This is where I saw it. The other article was clearer about it being a quail hunt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Whittington

Whoever authored that "article" is obviously biased against Cheney and Bush. I'm sure either Cheney apologized or he didn't need to because Whittington was at fault.