Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia Dead

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

Very small chance the republican senate allows Obama to name a replacement and have him confirmed prior to the election

Whilst this is true it's a great way for Obama to make the Republicans look like absolute ######s just prior to both the senate and presidential elections in a climate where the electorate is plainly looking to blame some one for the US's broken system.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

What's Justice Thomas going to do now that his masters gone?

find an apprentice

There are always two

[VladtheImpaler]

Pretty pathetic to have people here essentially celebrating a man's death. I disagree with virtually all of his social views, but I can still respect him - right winger or socialist you still have to be a supremely accomplished jurist to get a seat on that bench.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Pretty pathetic to have people here essentially celebrating a man's death. I disagree with virtually all of his social views, but I can still respect him - right winger or socialist you still have to be a supremely accomplished jurist to get a seat on that bench.

People are happy he's no longer on the bench, not really that someone died.

Unfortunately that's how he vacated his seat.

[Caged Great]

Well this could be absolutely huge. If the Democrats win the next election, they could end up with 3 judges that are under the age of 65 and Ginsburg is 81, Kennedy is 79, and Breyer is 77. That would make a sweeping change to the tenor of the court for a long long time. I would assume that both Ginsburg and Breyer would resign if the Democrats hold the White House and Senate.

I am sorry for his family and friends for their loss.

[GirlySports]

Could Obama be the next supreme court judge?

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Could Obama be the next supreme court judge?

Eric Holder is my choice, the repugs would freak

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Could Obama be the next supreme court judge?

That would be the perfect person for the job in my opinion. He's only 55, a constitutional lawyer and soon to be a former president. Pretty much perfect.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

That would be the perfect person for the job in my opinion. He's only 55, a constitutional lawyer and soon to be a former president. Pretty much perfect.

Perfect. He has never been qualified for any of his jobs, so why start now?

[SebC]

Originally Posted by peter12

No, I am liberal-minded enough to respect someone's talents and learning without necessarily agreeing with them on everything.

There are plenty of talented people out there without whom the world would be better off.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It's an absolute blight on the US justice system that Obama has a year left in office yet almost certainly will not be able to get anyone into that seat during that time. The process down there is awful.

EDIT: By the way, anyone placing bets on who he tries to get? I'd suggest Jane Kelly, who he managed to get onto the 8th circuit with a quick confirmation a few years ago. Two downsides: she's not very experienced, and she was Obama's classmate at Harvard.

[Parallex]

My condolences to the friends and family. My congratulations to the American people. Get on it Obama, this can't wait until after November.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It'd be after January.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

http://www.theonion.com/graphic/just...view:1:Default

Ok, I didn't want to pile on, but that's hilarious.

I was very surprised when I saw this this afternoon.

I'm very happy he's off the bench, but not happy with the way it happened obviously. At the very least, I can say that he was hard working servant for the system (hard to say 'for the people', really, so I won't) and I'm sure he believed he was making the world a better place, so at least he was fighting the fight.

As has been mentioned, his spot doesn't need to be filled by a far left individual, and to be honest, probably shouldn't be. But I think it will be an improvement for the bench and American society in general.



As far as reading his rulings, I found them interesting too, but probably not for the same reasons Peter12 did.

[FiftyBelow]

Sad to hear of his passing. He was one of the great champions of originalist and textualist interpretations. Though he had many opponents in the legal world, many of them still respected him for his excellent writing and at the very least, sound legal reasoning. In fact, one of his closest friend's was Justice Ginsburg, his ideological opposite.

Many who call him out for his alleged bigotry have often never read his opinions at length and don't have a true sense of the legal reasoning that he applied. They often just looked at his opinions and judged them based on their compatibility with their own moral perspective.

[driveway]

This is the guy who's being circulated as Obama's likely, or at least potential nominee:

Sri Srinivasan

is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[2][3] He was confirmed by the United States Senate by a vote of 97–0 on May 23, 2013. Before being confirmed as a judge, he was the Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States and has argued 25 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He was also a lecturer at Harvard Law School.

Some articles discussing Mr. Srinivasan and his potential as a nominee:

http://komonews.com/news/nation-worl...le-replacement

Srinivasan, according to The New Yorker is "the Obama Administration's principal deputy solicitor general."

"He's had twenty or so arguments in the Supreme Court, including part of the Administration's attack on the Defense of Marriage Act last month. "

http://www.bustle.com/articles/14171...renowned-judge

replacing a conservative justice like Scalia with Obama, who has more liberal views, the political ideology among SCOTUS justices would become imbalanced. That is where Srinivasan emerges as a viable replacement: Even though Srinivasan was appointed by Obama and has left-leaning views (i.e. defending same-sex marriage), his background as a litigator fighting for others' views could put him in a good position to objectively approach right-leaning issues (like maintaining the 2nd Amendment).

From 2013: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...-bush/2351543/

The Senate unanimously confirmed Srinivasan on Thursday as the first new judge since 2006 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The vote was 97-0. ... For Srinivasan, it was a walk in the park. Following close on the withdrawal of New York prosecutor Caitlin Halligan, he sailed unanimously through the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate with what Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the Senate's most conservative members, acknowledged was "broad bipartisan support." ... That an Obama nominee could be so quickly and completely embraced by Republicans is a testament to Srinivasan's bipartisan credentials and collegiality.

McConnell, Rubio, and Cruz all voted yes to confirming Mr. Srinivasan to the DC Circuit in 2013.

Nominations to the Supreme Court are extremely rare in a President's 8th year, the only one I can find reference to is Justice Kennedy in Reagan's last year (88). However, as lifespans have increased, Justices dying while on the bench have likewise become extremely rare.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...its-very-rare/

Seventeen of the first 25 people to sit on the Supreme Court died as acting justices. Of the first 57 -- the first half of all of those to have been on the Supreme Court -- 38 died while on the bench. Of the second 57, only 12 died while on the bench.

The last, prior to Antonin Scalia, who died at some point Friday night or Saturday morning, was Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who died in 2005. Prior to that, the last justice to die while on the bench was Fred Vinson, who died in 1953 -- also while chief justice.

In the past two instances of a death on the bench, Vinson and Rehnquist, the replacement process was extremely quick. The average time of confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice is around 75 days, including about 60 days of hearings.

Vinson died on September 8, 1953 and was replaced by Justice Warren on October 1st. Granted this was a recess appointment. Rehnquist died September 3, 2005, Roberts was nominated on September 12th and confirmed on September 29th, 26 days after Rehnquists' death.

There are 341 days left in Obama's term. For the Republicans to filibuster an Obama nominee for the duration of his Presidency would be utterly unprecedented in US History.

Likewise, if McConnell and the Republicans wish to keep an Obama Justice off the court, they are going to have to keep the Senate in-session for the rest of the year. If the Senate recesses, Obama would be able to make a recess appointment. It's not hugely difficult to do, requiring pro forma meetings every three days which can last no more than minutes, but there are planned recesses of sufficient length on the Senate's 2016 Calendar which would give Obama a window to appoint a Justice without confirmation: A recess which actually began yesterday and lasts until the 21st of February. Another is planned from March 19-April 3rd, August 8th - September 7th, October 8th - November 13th, and November 19th - 27th.

The October 8th - November 13th recess is really interesting as it falls right over the Election. A 9-0 Supreme Court decision against Obama in 2014 found that Recess appointments are only Constitutional if the Senate is "actually unavailable for deliberation."

Senators being on the road campaigning would almost certainly meet that qualification, but the impact of such an appointment right around the election might be profound.

However the next months or year or more goes in the process to replace Scalia, it is almost certain to be unprecedented in the history of the Supreme Court.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

That would be the perfect person for the job in my opinion. He's only 55, a constitutional lawyer and soon to be a former president. Pretty much perfect.

well no.

I don't know his actual judicial experience, I am assuming its 0, which would mean he is far from the perfect person.....

Oh, throw in the fact that he as a politician that has accepted millions and millions of dollars from donors.... lets not put him on the supreme court... terrible idea...

Originally Posted by SebC

There are plenty of talented people out there without whom the world would be better off.

this seems fair - not happy he died, I am sure he did what he thought was best for his nation, but fundamentally disagreed with him.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by FiftyBelow

Sad to hear of his passing. He was one of the great champions of originalist and textualist interpretations. Though he had many opponents in the legal world, many of them still respected him for his excellent writing and at the very least, sound legal reasoning. In fact, one of his closest friend's was Justice Ginsburg, his ideological opposite.

Many who call him out for his alleged bigotry have often never read his opinions at length and don't have a true sense of the legal reasoning that he applied. They often just looked at his opinions and judged them based on their compatibility with their own moral perspective.

I dunno if I buy that. I think he often used legalese to hide his biases. I've read some of his rulings at full length. I obviously don't know law, but many left me scratching my head. That's why I said I enjoyed reading them. Often I would sit back and say, 'wow, that's allowed?' or 'that's a good way of confusing the argument/issue.' I enjoyed reading them because it taught me more about the system, with all it's flaws.

There's making a good legal argument, and then there's just saying words to confuse people and hide your intentions. Kinda like listening to Gary Bettman.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Pretty pathetic to have people here essentially celebrating a man's death. I disagree with virtually all of his social views, but I can still respect him - right winger or socialist you still have to be a supremely accomplished jurist to get a seat on that bench.

The death of evil people rarely generates sympathy.

The lack of respect offered for the man as he descends into hell is a reflection on Scalia, not the people commenting about him.

[calgaryblood]

Good riddance. He was a true scumbag and his death is a positive for Americans.