Obama's Attorney General & Supreme Court

[Reaux]

I haven't seen much of this discussed recently. What impact do you think an Obama presidency of 4 - 8 years will have on the judiciary. The tenure of supreme court justices ranges from 25 to 50 years. Hillary for 25 or more years on the supreme court? And then there will be a new attorney general, what direction will that take us?

 

Reaux

 

From yesterdays CBS news:

 

"Now let's look to the Supreme Court. Right now, seven of the nine Justices were appointed by Republicans; the oldest members are the most liberal and the youngest are the most conservative. It is very likely that Justices John Paul Stevens (age 88) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (age 75) will retire within the next four years. "Swing" vote Justice Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia are both 72. So Obama should have an opportunity to appoint several new Justices.

 

First, forget any talk of big-time Washington lawyer Robert Barnett getting the nod. You can also discount the idea that law professors Cass Sunstein or Laurence Tribe will be called upon by Team Obama. But that's not to say that he can't or won't select a candidate who is not currently an active judge. Indeed, the Supreme Court clearly could use justice who doesn't come from a federal appeals court; someone with a background like Sandra Day O'Connor, who spent some time as a state legislator in Arizona before becoming a state court judge and then the first female Justice in history.

 

How about Elena Kagan, dean of the Harvard Law School? She's brilliant, got some experience in government during the Clinton Administration, and doesn't appear to raise the hair on the backs of the necks of conservative. Oh, and not incidentally, she clerked for the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black Justice. She's 48, which means she's just a tick older that Obama himself.

 

Another unconventional candidate would be Hillary Rodham Clinton. Don't laugh. She has a law background and was famously good in her youth as counsel for the Democrats during the Watergate investigation. If she doesn't want to continue as one voice in 100 in the Senate, or if she no longer has the will to run in 2016, it's not hard to see a scenario where she parks herself at the Supreme Court. Obama certainly will offer her some sort of position within his Administration - as payback for her wonderful soldier-like work during the campaign. Why not a spot on the Court?

 

When it comes to trial court vacancies, Obama will have an opportunity over the next few years to begin to rebalance the federal judiciary after 20 of 28 years of Republican rule. Although it is often difficult to label a federal trial judge as "liberal" or "conservative," one recent report suggested that the courts have about a 60-40 balance now in favor of conservative jurists. That balance is sure to change during the Obama Administration. But just how far and how quickly is an open question. "

[Triet]

How about suntzu?

[Ditch Jigger]

How about suntzu?

 

 

Their copiers need to be fixed?

[fishsticking]

Obama gets a chance to replace Ginsburg and Stevens ............ Nothing changes on the Court other than stationary ........ just hope that Scalia hangs on till the Democrats have lost control in the Senate and the House ............. Hell, if a Senator can serve when they are 91 and be feeble minded why not a Supreme Court Justice

[Walter Sobchak]

Not just the SC. There are current vacancies on the very important DC Circuit and, I believe, other circuit courts.

[MikeM58]

I wonder why CBS feels it's good to have gov't experience to be on the Supreme Court? Seems to me it would be a liability.