CNN is reporting that David Souter is retiring from the SCOTUS! I just hope Specter commited to voting for cloture on all appointees!
I just wished Souter had waited until Fraken was seated, since will give the Republicans a reason to draw out his case even longer!
I had heard that Souter hadn’t been interviewing for clerks. So, this is not a complete surprise.
If Clinton could get Ginsburg and Breyer through, then Obama should be able to get a good justice approved with 59-60 Ds. Remember, the rally cry is “up or down!”
Don’t make us use the nuclear option!
Oh, hello shoe, nice to see you on the other foot. 🙂
Obama’s first Supreme Court appointee should be:
1. Extremely liberal (left of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, right of Dennis Kucinich)
2. Incredibly qualified (decades of judicial experience, Harvard/Yale/Columbia background, etc)
3. Fairly old (about 65)
A handful of Republicans will accept it because of his/her age, enough to break a filibuster.
All future Supreme Court appointees should be:
1. To the right of appointee #1 but still left of center
2. Incredibly qualified
3. Younger than #1 (50’s)
Republicans will have no excuse to block these judges after allowing #1.
Maybe I just havent been paying attention but Im stunned. And hes only 69. He could have been there for another 15-20 years (i.e. Justice Stevens). And Specter switched at just the right time for Obama.
As I understand it, Justice Souter is an avid jogger. Well, one day, Souter, then in his early sixties I believe, was running his usual route when a mugger attacked him. Unbeknownst to the mugger, Justice Souter is a black belt in karate. Three guess how this ended…
Another good one: Souter was so distraught over the outcome of Bush v. Gore that he seriously considered resigning.
let the games begin!
This AP article in the Houston Chronicle has a list of possible replacements. Almost all of them (out of the 9 listed) are women. 2 are hispanic. One is even a governor.
http://www.chron.com/disp/stor…
If Souter is going to be replaced immediately then MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be getting alot of pressure from certain interest groups to not help Al Franken be seated immediately. Before this announcement by Souter perhaps Pawlenty was seriously considering it, as it would help him amongst Minnesotans if he were to run for re-election. But now…I dont know. If he does end up helping Franken, all in the middle of the confirmation hearings, then he has no shot at winning the GOP nomination for Pres. in 2012 which Im sure hes thinking about.
Especially here.
to replace Souter. Kim Wardlaw might be the best option.
With the rise in right-wing extremist threats one of my biggest fears for a long time has been assassination attempts against liberal Supreme Court members.
Does anyone know what level of security Supreme Court Justices get? I’d imagine they have Secret Service protection.
This one has nothing to do with Souter, but it’s worth sharing.
Many years ago there was a case to determine whether or not pornography was free speech, though I forget the name of the case. However, I do remember that the facts of the case revolved around a particular pornographic film. Of course, to determine whether the film was protected speech or not, the justices had to watch the film. So eight of the nine justices (one having already made up his mind that the film was protected) gathered in the basement of the Supreme Court to watch the film…complete with popcorn. One of the justices, wish I could remember who, was very near sighted, so one of his colleagues had to describe to him, in detail, what was happening on the screen. Doesn’t get any funnier than that.