Supreme Displeasure

What is the number 1 criteria to earn my vote for President of the United States? Who they are likely to appoint to the Supreme Court. The Bush presidency, one of the most disastrous in the history of the republic, is winding down, and a Democrat has a pretty good shot at succeeding him, but the damage is done in that Bush got two justices on the court who are likely to remain there a long, long time.

Supreme Court appointments are tricky, and there have been plenty of surprises. On the current court, two of the most liberal voices are John Paul Stevens and David Souter, who were both appointed by Republican presidents. John Roberts and Samuel Alito, however, are not surprises, at least not yet. They have quite predictably sided with the conservative mentality that Bush no doubt wanted on the court. Some decisions handed down in recent weeks have been depressing reminders that the die is cast.

Roberts replacing William Rehnquist didn't make much difference. Rehnquist was a very right-wing justice. He was even-tempered jurist, and in his role as Chief Justice he was more measured, but his tenure during much of the seventies he cut a swath through Warren court precedents that would curl the hair of any civil libertarian. Fortunately, much of the time he was in dissent. It was only with the addition of Antonin Scalia that Rehnquist actually appeared to be more moderate. Rehnquist even wrote one of my favorite opinions, that of the Jerry Falwell-Larry Flynt case. I was an editor at Penthouse then and wrote him a fan letter. I got a personally-signed response that is hanging on my wall to this day. I'll give a guy credit when he's right.

Alito replacing Sandra Day O'Connor is much more disturbing. O'Connor, though certainly fundamentally conservative, never seemed to be toting around an agenda. By virtue of being in the center, she became the most powerful person on the court. She dissented least of any justice. With her departure, and the far-right Alito taking her place, the center has moved a tick right, and now is in the hands of Anthony Kennedy, who I've grudgingly admired most of the time (especially considering he was the alternative to Robert Bork). But he's gotten on my bad side in the last few months, and things are looking bleak.

A few of the cases that are disturbing: Gonzales v. Carhart, which let a ban on partial-birth abortions stand, the first time since Roe v. Wade that a law prohibiting abortions has been upheld. Ledbetter v. Goodyear, in which a woman was denied the ability to sue for gender discrimination because she didn't do it within 180 days of the discrimination, which basically tells employers, discriminate away, because if you can keep it hidden for six months, you don't have to worry about it. Morse v. Frederick, the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case. This has little in the way of ramifications, since it was the student who was suspended that wanted to sue his teacher, so it's not like the guy going to jail or something. But any infringement of freedom of speech gores my ox, especially when the student held the banner on public property, and is not a good sign for any free speech cases that come down the pike.

Of the five justices that normally vote for the right, none are imminent for retirement, with Scalia and Kennedy both turning 71 this year, mere pikers when it comes to justices, they are like tortoises when it comes to longevity. But of the four justices who are leftward, Stevens is 87, and is no doubt trying to hang on for a Democrat to be elected next year, while Ruth Ginsberg is 74, and has had cancer. If Stevens can't make it, civil libertarians will be fucked for a long, long time.