Simple Man Politics

Hmmmm lets see what makes a good United States Supreme Court Justice? I’m sure there are lots of qualities that we can think of that would go into making an excellent Supreme Court Justice pick. We see a lot of these extraordinary qualities in many federal and state judges all around the country although Supreme Court Justices are generally chosen from the ranks of federal judges or those who have practiced before the Supreme Court.

I think the foremost quality I would look for in a Supreme Court Justice is someone with a razor sharp knowledge of the US Constitution; yep that’s a good start. Another excellent quality would be someone who is a constitutionalist who would strictly interpret the constitution and the laws that are governed by this invaluable document. I also think another excellent quality in a justice would be the ability to be an impartial observer as well as a fair justice who uses the US Constitution as his or hers only guideline for passing judgment.

Unfortunately these qualities are not always evident in justices to those who have an opinion that runs counter to that of a particular jurist. A large part of this problem exists on a purely ideological level considering some of the topics that the SCOTUS has to rule on with ever increasing frequency. Topics like Roe v Wade and the 2nd Amendment just to name a couple of those hot button issues off the top of my head.

Then of course there is the problem that is associated with political party partisanship. This problem inevitably occurs every time there is a Supreme Court Nomination to be made. If the President making the nomination is a Republican he attempts to seat a conservative justice and if he is a Democrat he attempts to seat a liberal justice. The reason for this of course is that he wants the justice he picks to have opinions similar to his own.

Of course with a Supreme Court Justice seat being a lifetime appointment these justices will influence the SCOTUS and its opinions for decades potentially. That is at the heart of what makes these nominations so vehemently contested especially by those whose party does not represent the sitting President. Of course the President and his party try to push their nominees through every bit as hard as those fighting against the nominee.

Some of the biggest battles in seating these nominees are trying to find one who does not believe that the SCOTUS should legislate from the bench because they are the Judicial Branch and not the Legislative Branch of our government. Another big battle and the one that is currently brewing in the nomination process is the battle against racism on the bench.

At this time in our history our current President has had a chance to nominate a replacement for sitting Justice David Souter with another whose judicial views are similar to or maybe even more liberal than Souter’s and this nominees name is Sonia Sotomayor a Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit and the first Hispanic female to ever be nominated although not the first Hispanic nominated.

The current battle against her nomination stems from her statement supporting policy making from the SCOTUS by saying that policy is made all of the time on the appeals level. Another battle being waged against her nomination is because of an apparent racist statement that she made in which she said that a Latina female justice would make better judicial decisions than a white male justice because they would be unable to relate to the regular people who are the ones that the SCOTUS is supposed to protect. As always the battle against judicial activism will be fought on this nomination.

Now I will be honest with you and tell you that I would not support her for the simple reason that I fervently disagree with her notion that government policy is made on any federal judicial bench whether it be in federal circuit court, federal appeals court, or the SCOTUS. No justices are sworn in as legislators they are sworn in as judges or justices. As for the Latina female versus white male statement it may be racism in reverse and is certainly ignorant at the least.

As always I will tell you that it is up to you to do your own research and decide what you believe about this nominee. And as always all I can do is tell you the facts as I know them and my very educated opinion on the topics I write about. I hope all of you do take the time to read the things I write and decide if you like the direction our country is moving in and if it is where you want to go.

I hope you all have a fantastic day and I will see you all again tomorrow CIAO4NOW!!!!!

Well I was going to write some about the Republican Party effort to reinvent themselves and their intention to appeal to more independent, conservative democrat, and moderate Republican voters. However in recent hours leading up to the drafting of this blog post there has been an important piece of news out of the US Supreme Court. It appears that US Supreme Court Justice David Souter is due to retire from the bench in June after completing the courts business for the summer.

The information about Souter’s retirement has come to the public by means of a source inside the Supreme Court who asked to remain anonymous because the source was not authorized to speak for Justice Souter. As of yesterday evening Justice Souter had not released any statements either confirming or denying his potential retirement. It should be known though that for sometime Justice Souter has longed to return to New Hampshire and a life outside of Washington D.C.


There were many people who actually thought that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg would be the first to go especially after her fight with pancreatic cancer and the chemo that she undergoes regularly. However she has consistently stated that she plans to serve on the bench in the US Supreme Court until well into her 80’s. Justice Souter however is just 69 years of age with 19 years on the bench.

While this will be Obamas first Supreme Court appointment if Justice Souter does indeed retire it will not give the Obama administration any distinct advantage in the high court either politically or ideologically since Justice Souter is known to be one of three liberal justices that currently sit on the Supreme Court. What this means is that Obama would be replacing a sitting liberal justice with a justice of like mind.

Obamas advantage in getting his Supreme Court justice nominee confirmed is his party’s absolute power in the lower house of congress and his near filibuster proof majority in the upper house of the Senate. However there are still enough of Obamas detractors on the hill to make this potential appointment both painful and time consuming before there is a confirmed justice appointment to the Supreme Court. So what ever the outcome the status quo will remain unchanged at least for now.

That is all I have for you guys today but I will be back again next week. I hope you all have a superb weekend and CIAO4NOW!!!!!