The U.S. Supreme Court - potential swings in ideology after 2004: [View All]

[tedoll78]

There are three conservative stalwarts on the court right now:
Rehnquist
Scalia
Thomas

There are two "moderates" on the court:
O'Connor
Kennedy

There are four pretty liberal thinkers on the court currently:
Stevens
Souter
Ginsburg
Breyer

...

So, here's how the court could end-up 6-3 in favor of us:
Rehnquist, having served since 1973, either quits or kicks the bucket. Assuming we name a nice replacement, the liberal column gains one.
O'Connor, trailed by increasing rumors of retirement, quits. Again, the liberal column gains one.

At this point, the court would be divided 6-2-1 liberal-conservative-Kennedy:
Stevens-Souter-Ginsburg-Breyer-Nominee1-Nominee2 vs Scalia-Thomas.

And then some other things could happen.

Stevens could retire. The man is in poor health and in his 80's. The liberal column stays steady with our replacement, but with a justice in much better physical shape. {BTW, he was rumored in 2000 to be hoping for a Gore victory so he could retire.}

And perhaps Ginsburg might step-down? She has health issues also.

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And then there's the flip-side.

Stevens could die.
Ginsburg could come out of remission from her cancer.
O'Connor could retire and be replaced by a Scalia clone.
Rehnquist could retire/die and be replaced by a younger version of himself.

This would produce a 6-2-1 conservative-liberal-Kennedy court.

The GOP could end-up dominating the US Supreme Court for those 20 to 30 years if Bush wins. This is what gives me nightmares.

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My point? Any of the current candidates would produce high-quality judges if elected. Young, healthy, smart judges who could each serve 20, 30, maybe even more years on the bench. If there is one reason to vote for the 'D' this fall, this is it! Cheers! :)