Allow me to begin today’s blog by offering my sincere condolences to the family of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia who died over the weekend.
He was a giant in the area of American jurisprudence for 30 years.
Scalia was appointed by former Pres. Ronald Reagan because of his conservative beliefs which he held fast to his entire life.
From everything I read about Justice Scalia, he was an extremely bright man who was able to explain in simple terms his conservative beliefs.
Whether you agreed or disagreed with his ideology, just about everyone agreed that he was a decent human being who loved our country very much.
But now, a monumental battle is about to begin over who will replace him.
Pres. Obama legally has the right to nominate anyone for the United States Supreme Court. He’s expected to do so very quickly.
But before a person can serve on the US Supreme Court, he must be confirmed by the United States Senate.
And therein is the dilemma.
Pres. Obama, a liberal, will likely nominate someone with his liberal philosophy to the Supreme Court.
However, a majority of the United States Senate is controlled by the Republicans.
Republicans have a conservative viewpoint and will not just rubberstamp Pres. Obama’s selection.
As a matter fact, what the Republican-controlled Senate has already stated through its leaders, is that they will block the nomination of anyone President Obama selects.
The conservative Republicans believe that the next president after Obama should appoint Scalia’s successor.
After all they argue, Obama is a lame-duck president who will be out of office in less than a year.
The stakes here are very high.
Why?
Because Scalia was one of the 5 conservative justices who made up the majority on the court. If Obama appoints a liberal, then the liberals will become the majority on the Supreme Court.
Right now, many of the decisions of the Supreme Court are 5 – 4 decisions for the Republican conservative views.
The majority will shift to the liberal view if Obama’s nominee is confirmed. But if the Republican conservatives can stall the nomination for a year, then if the Republican candidate wins the presidency, a conservative will be nominated to take Scalia’s place.
Confused? So is Pittsburgh wrongful death, medical malpractice, slip and fall, and criminal defense attorney Bernie Tully. But it is fun to speculate about the choices that are going to be made.
Do you believe Pres. Obama as the sitting current president has the right to nominate a candidate for the Supreme Court, even though Obama will only be in office for another 11 months?
I don’t know the answer to these questions. It does seem likely though that the courts will have to get involved in solving some of these questions.
What do you think about all this?
Do the Republican conservatives have a point here?
Don’t you really really miss football?
This sure is a lot different than injury law. Ha ha
Thanks for reading!
Bernie the attorney