So, which Supreme Court justice goes first?

[Sean]

Because, in all honesty, I think the most important result of last nights hoopla will be setting the tone of the SCOTUS for the next decade or so.

 

[torchthebitch]

Personally, the whole plea bargain system concerns me more.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Ginsburg. She's going to be eighty.

 

[Saint Peter]

Clarence Thomas

He has not wanted to be there for years.

Definitely not four more years.

 

[Liar]

Clarence Thomas

He has not wanted to be there for years.

Definitely not four more years.

You don't think he'll cling to it in fear of libs?

Ginsburg drops out. And one of the old guys croak from a stroke. Cause that's what old guys do. Probably Scalia, a man doesn't get to be old and fat forever.

 

[JBCorbell]

Scalia would be a good choice. He's practically fossilized as it is.

 

[Sean]

You don't think he'll cling to it in fear of libs?

This.

 

[richard_daily]

In a perfect world, the activist judge Scalia.

 

[killallhippies]

i remember listening to an interview on npr a year or two ago with a guy who went to college with clarence thomas. dude is such a massive hypocrite it's fucking pathetic. i don't think he'll go anywhere, but it would be a good thing if he did.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

Because, in all honesty, I think the most important result of last nights hoopla will be setting the tone of the SCOTUS for the next decade or so.

Scalia is the only one from the conservative wing of the Court who might be vulnerable due to age or health. He is also more of a realist who probably understands that he cannot further the spread of his judicial philosophy simply by hanging around. I think that would probably make it easier for him to step down when he has decided that "enough is enough."

 

[Saint Peter]

You don't think he'll cling to it in fear of libs?

Ginsburg drops out. And one of the old guys croak from a stroke. Cause that's what old guys do. Probably Scalia, a man doesn't get to be old and fat forever.

I am sure he does not want the Obama appointment. It is a matter of if he is willing to wait another four years to jump ship.

I say no.

Life is too short to work a gig you hate.

 

[Sean]

Scalia is the only one from the conservative wing of the Court who might be vulnerable due to age or health. He is also more of a realist who probably understands that he cannot further the spread of his judicial philosophy simply by hanging around. I think that would probably make it easier for him to step down when he has decided that "enough is enough."

I am sure he does not want the Obama appointment. It is a matter of if he is willing to wait another four years to jump ship.

I say no.

Life is too short to work a gig you hate.

I wonder if Hillary would take the gig seeing as she's disavowed any interest in a 2016 presidential run?

 

[unregistered]

 

[Wrong Element]

None of the conservatives will want to go willingly. In recent decades, justices have really tried to hold on until there was a president congenial to their views to replace them. The key to the current tilt on the Court is that the Republicans had a third straight term with GHW Bush, and both Brennan and Marshall couldn't hold out any longer.

I'm not as convinced as most people that there will be multiple Court openings. The questions about Ginsburg's health really aren't much more urgent now than they were in 2009, other than that she is of course older.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

double post.

 

[Sean]

Scalia is the only one from the conservative wing of the Court who might be vulnerable due to age or health. He is also more of a realist who probably understands that he cannot further the spread of his judicial philosophy simply by hanging around. I think that would probably make it easier for him to step down when he has decided that "enough is enough."

Another dude said that pretty recently....

 

[garbage can]

Scalia is the only one from the conservative wing of the Court who might be vulnerable due to age or health. He is also more of a realist who probably understands that he cannot further the spread of his judicial philosophy simply by hanging around. I think that would probably make it easier for him to step down when he has decided that "enough is enough."

So he'll toss in the towel?

 

[Colonel Hogan]

So he'll toss in the towel?

Hopefully not. I'm just saying that he strikes me as a person more likely to take the view that he has given it his best shot and if personal considerations argue for retirement he'll find it easier to walk away with a clear conscience.

His other conservative colleagues are young enough to continue the fight. Hell, Alito and Roberts have barely started their Supreme Court careers.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Excellent article on the politics of timing Supreme Court Justices retirements

Bottom line: SC Justices try and time their retirements so that their successor is chosen by a president who holds largely similar worldviews. This does not apply when they have rapidly advancing illness (Rehnquist) or personal issues (O'Connor's husband's dementia).

The only Supreme Court justice who appears not to have given a single fuck about his/her successor was Thurgood Marshall. Marshall's abrupt retirement gave the world the unGodly stench of Clarence Thomas.

 

[LiFeNdEaTh]

i hate court in general... so i wouldn't know

 

[ivantheterrible]

we can only hope a bunch of these fossils start dropping dead in mass. quick!

 

[LiFeNdEaTh]

we can only hope a bunch of these fossils start dropping dead in mass. quick!

hehehe

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Bad enough that Roberts ruled incorrectly about the mandate. No need for more "living document" Justices. Hold on, folks.

Oh, and try to redeem yourself, John.