Supreme Court Likely To Keep Moving To The Right, Even With Sotomayor

Washington Post:

For the Supreme Court, it was the year of living on the verge.

On the verge of declaring the key provision of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, but then stepping back. Looking hard at whether some protections of minorities amount to violations of the Constitution, then leaving the topic for another day. Appearing sympathetic to school officials for their decision to strip-search a 13-year-old student, but shielding them only from any liability for their actions.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[Pie7]

If Sotomayor is like Justice Kennedy I will be happy, more justice Kennedy is needed on the Supreme Court.

[Coinyer101]

I'm a flamin' liberal, and I don't care much for her appointment. She's too conservative and so is our current President, apparently­....,

[KoolAidAmerica]

Obama is not conservative or liberal Hes a populist. Things like gay rights which can lessen his popularity will not be enacted but health care for all which will bankrupt this country gets enacted easily because its popular.

[Tavi]

You don't even know what a "populist" is. It doesn't mean "popular" it means someone who believes in the rights of the common people over the rights of the elites or corporations. Everyone should be a "populist.­"

[KoolAidAmerica]

A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the two nights following the Supreme Court decision, finds that 37% now believe Sotomayor should be confirmed while 39% disagree.

But I favor Sotomayor being on the board. She will be more constitutional and not invent rights when none exist unlike Souter

[k6007]

Ha. Could SS be the hispanics' clarencethomas?

[sufi66]

If true, then we deserve this. We elected dismal reactionaries who stocked the court with fellow travelers.

After Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1 and amazingly Bush 2, then expecting a sane court would be insane.

[BabblingBrooks]

Ms. Thernstrom, author of the just published "Voting Rights -- and Wrongs: The Elusive Quest for Racially Fair Elections" (AEI), is vice-chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

[BabblingBrooks]

Maybe, or maybe not...

"All racial classifications are highly suspect under the 14th Amendment. The Constitution protects individuals from discrimination -- without respect to race. Distributing benefits and burdens on the basis of color was supposed to be the ugly mind-set the leaders of the civil rights movement struggled so heroically to change. We have not escaped such race-thinking yet, but this decision is an important step in the right direction.

Here we should listen to Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff. He appeared at a hearing held by the Civil Service Board before the test results were released. "The people who passed should be promoted," he said. "When your life's on the line, second best may not be good enough." Residents in a burning building want competent firefighters. They don't care about the race of those whose job it is to save them."

Abigail Thernstrom

Judged by decisions and statements the left wing wants to keep discrimination alive and well in America--just to use against white males, however. They and Christians are pretty much the only groups in America it's legal to discriminate against.

[factotem]

If you didn't know that Alito and Roberts would push the court to the right, you're too fvc.king stv.pid to live.

[sufi66]

The clowns who confirmed these two sure acted as if they didn't know, which either means they should resign or we should impeach them.

[1088]

They are political, period! They choose our President for us was and that was very political! They need to be impeach for that act only. Again, we the people keeping on sitting and watch these people sheit on our constitution without any objections. So, we should get what we deserve! The Iranians has more guts than we do, for we have become a lazy nation.

[dennisrs]

Maybe this the time to rethink their appointments for life??? Let's have "referendum" to have them retire at 80 years old??

[BabblingBrooks]

The US Supreme Court chose Obama? Strange, but I didn't know that!

[BabblingBrooks]

Mostly, when the Supreme Court spins and distorts the constitution, you cheer! It is when they stick to it that you gripe and whine and moan.

[HJF1968]

I believe the ideological shift of the Supreme Court will change back to the left eventually. It will just take time. If Democrats are successful in future presidential elections, whomever is President will have the opportunity to appoint someone. Conservative judges never step down from the bench (Sandra Day O'Connor) when there is a Democratic president in office or during an election when it is unknown which party will win the White House. With that being said, John Stevens is the oldest judge at 90 Gingsburg at 76 and Kennedy at 73. One of those three will be the first to go.

[mcmchugh99]

We already have the most conservative Supreme Court since the Gilded Age, or I should say the FIRST Gilded Age. Republicans seem to think that they haven't gone far enough in that direction, and that what the people want is even more conservatism, even though we have had nothing else in our Second Gilded Age of the last 30 years. They won't be satisfied until the United States looks likesomething out of a Charles Dickens novel from the 1840s. We're getting there, slowly but surely, even though I still have hopes that Obama willfinally counter the great right-wing counter-revolution that has been going on in America since the 1970s and 1980s.

[naschkatze]

"What the people want is even more conservatism"? Out of which hat did you draw that little gem? And why do you have "hopes" for Obama?

[joecoolconservative]

Yes Sotomayor is a stealth conservative appointment cooked up by a Cheney conspiracy. He seems to be involved in everything Barry does.

[naschkatze]

She will be no David Souter.

[poco767c]

Conservatives can appoint as many far right loons as they like to the SCOTUS, but any democrat nominee is an 'activist judge'

[williamina]

I think Sotomayor should be confirmed. I also think there is a distinct possibility of her being a reverse Souter. Irony.

[bigsioux]

That thought has crossed my mind as well.

[Cosmic-Zantor]

Maybe it's time to eliminate life terms for court members. Most of these elderly people are out of touch with modern society, and it isn't fair to the country to keep people in there for decades at a time who are resistant to cultural progress.

[RandVictims]

Exactly,

There is no valid reason to keep these pompus, intellectually marginal aristocrats from terrorize us for 3-4 decades at a time.

[MNTom]

So true. Maybe a 20 year term limit, one generation.

[PWM]

I agree. They should have terms of, in my opinion, no more than 10 years.

[Maezeppa]

STRONGLY DISAGREE! We simply need to work hard to ensure better nominees are seated. And then we need to ensure that seat is safe for their lifetime so they can follow the dictates of their conscience and analyze the law to the best of their ability.

[naschkatze]

I'm feeling pretty powerless right now so tell me how "we" can do all this?

[-0013]

1. Age has nothing to do with interpretation of the law.

2. "Cultural Progress" is a pretty vague term as what you might deem progress might not seem so to others.