Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Judicial apocalypse is nigh

Great article on the Supreme Court and what may come to pass by Jeffrey Rosen at The New Republic. To entice ye, here are some quotes:
"An Obama victory would maintain the current balance of the Court, while a McCain Court could create a solid conservative majority."
"McCain judges might also undermine a Democratic Congress in other ways--dismantling environmental and civil justice laws by judicial fiat."
"If the McCain Court declared that the Constitution is always color-blind, the nuanced use of race would go out the window, and the results would be extraordinarily activist: Justice Stephen Breyer has counted more than 50 federal laws and 100 state laws that contain racial classifications, all of which might be in jeopardy."
"Broadly, a McCain Court would be poised to reject the nuanced position of religious neutrality--which holds that government must treat religious and secular institutions on equal terms--and embrace a position of religious supremacy, which allows government to support religion, as long as it doesn't favor one faith over another."
"This year, liberals are in a perilous situation, where a conservative president could create a conservative Supreme Court majority for decades to come. In other words, those who have long been too concerned about the future of the Supreme Court finally have reason to worry."

1 comment:

plumpy said...

Today's IHT had an article about the huge effect Bush has had on the appeals court, too.

"While a two-term president typically leaves his stamp on the appeals courts — Bill Clinton appointed 65 judges, Bush 61 — Bush's judges were among the youngest ever nominated and are poised to have an unusually strong impact."