10-08-2020, 02:01 PM
(10-08-2020, 01:35 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I didn't say it was unconstitutional. I said it was deceptive and underhanded. Which it is; both in the way they denied Obama's pick and the way they are now trying to jam through Trump's pick in an even more extreme version of their initial denial in 2016.
I also did not say there was anything wrong with a 5-4 or 6-3. It is inevitable that there will be an unbalanced court because there are 9 justices. The SC was supposed to be a nonpartisan part of the government, in which they interpret the law unbiasedly. Of course, it was always a joke, but it is even more so now that there are groups who want to reverse past rulings or otherwise drive a partisan agenda through the courts.
I personally think there is opportunity to amend the way in which supreme court justices serve their terms, for example, by giving them term limits. That way you can enter any given election thinking "if the Democrats lose, that means the Republican president will get 2 nominations in his next 4 year term. I don't want that to happen, so I will vote for Biden, even though I normally would not because I care about abortion or LGBTQ rights." I think if some of the Bernie or Busters knew that 3 seats would come due from 2016 to 2020, they'd have been more likely to take Clinton rather than give those seats away to Trump.
Not only that, but it would also mean justices wouldn't have to "survive" until the next president of their general political alignment gets elected. Look at the nomination of Anthony Kennedy, for instance. Lewis Powell was able to retire in 1987, more than a year before Reagan's term was over, because he was confident that the Democratic Senate would not play politics and would rightfully nominate Reagan's pick.
And the Democratic Senate did. You see, the SC wasn't always as political as it is now. Kennedy was confirmed 97-0 despite the Democrats holding the majority in the Senate. That idea is now laughable, as we know.
If Powell was a Supreme Court Justice now, he would have felt compelled to stay on the court until he died in 1996 because the Republicans did not hold the Senate and the Presidency until 2003.
I imagine RGB would have loved to retire in 2016 or 2017. Live the last few years with her family away from the stress of political office. But she couldn't because Trump was the president. She knew she had to live until 2021 in order for her seat not to be filled with another conservative, which would likely mean the end to several things that she fought her entire life for.
I can't imagine the toll that took on her and her life.
If we had term limits, this idea of "surviving" presidencies would be a thing of the past. They would just be chosen, serve whatever the term may be. 10, 15, 20 years. And then, when it came due, they'd either be re-chosen (probably if the presidency is held by the same party as was when they were originally chosen) or be replaced in a predictable and unfrenetic manner, as with nearly every other office in politics.
But that's just my perspective.
Great points!
