Current or modern politics in the United States

[LadyLuck]

Justice Kennedy is retiring.

[scoundrel]

The Supreme Court is not supposed to be a law making body but in reality it is. I have already read predictions that the Roe v. Wade decision will be bypassed and that abortion will be illegal in at least 20 US states in less than 2 years from the appointment of Justice Kennedy's replacement. It is unlikely that a precedent set by an earlier SCOTUS will merely be repealed, but more likely that new rulings will work around the Roe v. Wade decision and nullify it by granting caveats and exemptions.

Having said this, it is not so very easy to be certain that a conservative judge will always rule in a conservative way. Some judges have a disconcerting habit of actually reading and thinking about what the constitution actually says. President Eisenhower was confident that Chief Justice Earl Warren would support the state of Arkansas in its long standing policy of segregating black and white school children and was very put out when the Warren court ruled firmly against segregation in schools as unconstitutional. Trying to predict how judges will rule is difficult, even when their track record is known.

But the reason why both parties try to politicise the SCOTUS by appointing biased and partisan judges is that the SCOTUS decides what is the law in the USA, although really that should be the job of the legislature, not the job of the judiciary.

[BustyWomenLovr]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

Trying to predict how judges will rule is difficult, even when their track record is known.

Yes, gotta love the Supremes who once they gat their "lifetime" appointment realize they don't have to follow the politics, just the law. Even Chief Justice Roberts has surprised some with his actions while on the bench.
I guess I could "google" it - but I don't recall a Justice being removed.

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by BustyEscortLovr

Yes, gotta love the Supremes who once they gat their "lifetime" appointment realize they don't have to follow the politics, just the law. Even Chief Justice Roberts has surprised some with his actions while on the bench.
I guess I could "google" it - but I don't recall a Justice being removed.

Samuel Chase.was impeached but not.convicted. Abe Fortas.resigned under an ethical cloud. In general justices stay until they resign or die.

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by deepsepia

Samuel Chase.was impeached but not.convicted. Abe Fortas.resigned under an ethical cloud. In general justices stay until they resign or die.

I think John Rutledge was removed by the Senate after serving in 1795 because he had gone insane. Founding father James Wilson remained on the court until his death in 1798, despite a couple of trips to debtors prison after 1796. Can you imagine? The Supreme Court of the United States heard only nine cases in the years 1789 to 1798.

Wilson was a major figure during the revolution and in the creation of the constitution. He may have been the foremost lawyer of his time. The University of Pennsylvania Law School traces its founding to his lectures in 1790 and 1791.

[deepsepia]

Originally Posted by Brian249x

I think John Rutledge was removed by the Senate after serving in 1795 because he had gone insane. Founding father James Wilson remained on the court until his death in 1798, despite a couple of trips to debtors prison after 1796. Can you imagine?

William O. Douglas had his share of debts, and Whittaker had a nervous breakdown, disappeared to a hunting cabin.

Its very unfortunate that two principled moderates, David Souter and Sandra Day O'Connor, retired. They're both still living, were they still on the Court it would be a very different place.

[Mal Hombre]

Nowadays,Insanity wouldn't be an impediment..

[Arturo2nd]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

Nowadays,Insanity wouldn't be an impediment..

We don't really want crazy judges. Only the presidency, congressmen, and senators should be allowed that latitude.

Trump is not likely crazy. He is just the first president that pays no lip service to the traditional ideology that has informed our political life since Revolutionary times. He even ridicules and belittles those ideals. I am sensing that we as a people are very uncomfortable with this deviance and we are not likely to see another of his ilk for a very long time.

It is much easier to be a childish, racist, and selfish greed head when one has a self image that the nation is a "light shining on the hill," and that one is a virtuous patriot.

[scoundrel]

Originally Posted by Brian249x

We don't really want crazy judges. Only the presidency, congressmen, and senators should be allowed that latitude.

This might be an American thing. Crazy judges are rather usual in the United Kingdom. Lord Denning, who was Master of the Rolls for many years, was almost universally known to be as mad as a box of frogs. However, there was no way to remove him because his legal rulings were impeccably grounded in law and precedent and always totally on-point - in fact, he had a rather brilliant legal mind and was an excellent judge. The only problem was that he was absolutely woof-baa-donkey.

Lord Tom Denning on the death penalty and the unbearable lightness of being.

Denning: Prisoner at the bar. Have you anything to say before I pass sentence upon you?
Convicted Murderer: As God is my Judge, I am not guilty!!!!
Denning: He isn't. I am. - And you are. [puts on black cap]

[LadyLuck]

Originally Posted by scoundrel

The Supreme Court is not supposed to be a law making body but in reality it is.

The SCOTUS is a law deciding body. That was its intention from the outset and that is what it is. SCOTUS decides what the Constitution means and if the case before it violates the Constitution or is in accordance with it. Democrats tend to nominate justices who tend to view things through a liberal lens. GOP presidents do the opposite. It's been that way forever.

One thing is certain. Ruth Bader Ginsburg will not be retiring. If she leaves the Court it will be on a slab.

God Bless Joe Biden.