The makeup of The U. S. Supreme Court can be as crucial as the decisions that it makes. It has historically been the case that the presidents, the ones who make the nominations, try to “stack” the panel with judges who are sympathetic to their causes. Even more crucially is the fact that since justices have lifetime tenure, the choices made for the positions reach far beyond the period of time in which a president serves. A conservative justice can be chosen by a conservative president, and when that president is replaced by one who is not so conservative, the outgoing president’s choices may serve to circumvent the legislative goals of the newly elected, non-conservative president for years to come.
It is important to understand that this court is the highest in the land. When a decision has been handed down, that’s it – end of the line. If you feel that you’ve been given a raw deal, too bad. Consider the Dred Scott vs. Sanford case. This came at a time when lawmakers, politicians, ministers, and even a president or two owned slaves. In that time period, it would not be hard to fathom that those in power would fight to “stack” the bench in their favor. The Dred Scott Decision was not decided by one or two votes – it was nearly unanimous, with two dissenting justices, one who concurred with the ruling, but not with reasoning behind it. That left six (6) justices who agreed that slavery should remain in effect and that the presiding precedent of “once free, always free” should be totally disregarded. This case provides one very typical, very dangerous example of how the makeup of the court can have a profound and lasting impact on our lives.
Today’s U.S. Supreme Court has justices who were chosen by four (4) different presidents. Two (2) justices were appointed by a Democrat, William Clinton. The remaining justices, including Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., were appointed by Republican presidents: Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, G.H.W. Bush, and G.W. Bush. The most recent justice to step down, Sandra Day O’Connor, was also nominated by a Republican, Reagan. The last justice chosen by a Democratic president, prior to today’s bench, was back in 1967 – Thurgood Marshall, appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson. That is an extremely long period of time to have an unbalanced makeup of justices presiding over the land.
There are plans afloat, by those who which to make a change and who have taken the time to come up with some feasible suggestions, to alleviate not only the lifetime tenure, but, as well, a system that would change the makeup of the bench as an ongoing process. The changes would not be the sort that hit the headlines today and fade into obscurity tomorrow, but, instead, would impact this generation and the next in ways that most of us never imagined.
Please join me on Wednesday for Part 4, when we explore the suggestions that are in the works.
This is blackstarr saying “Vive La Renaissance!”
copyright © 2008 blackstarr
