Making Anthony an Offer...

As the Supreme Court begins a new session this week, docket watchers everywhere will be paying close attention to how our recently reconfigured panel of Justices will be ruling--especially given the slate of crucial arguments scheduled to come before the bench in the months ahead. Most agree that if last year's rulings are any indication, Justice Anthony Kennedy will resume his role as the Court's all-important swing vote. This does not exactly put Kennedy in an enviable position.

For a sneak preview of the behind-the-scenes dramas to come, tap the gavel below....

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[oldpotsmuggler]

THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN AMERICA?

Anthony McLeod Kennedy was born on July 23, 1936. He enjoyed a seemingly normal childhood in Sacramento. Blah, blah.

Now he runs this country in very major ways, without checks and balances over the exercise of his power, and we should be asking ourselves if that is acceptable. Justice Kennedy proved to be the decisive swing vote in all of the 5-4 decisions in which our new conservative Supreme Court started rewriting constitutional law this year, and what he intends to do in the future in that regard is completely up to himself. One can always hope that he doesn’t have a “vision”, but the annals of history are replete with the disasters caused by folks letting power go to their head.

There is no part of our government that should escape scrutiny in The Second American Constitutional Convention, least of all the Supreme Court. There may have been a time when the game playing with the composition of the Court was not as extreme as we know it. But remember back to the bullshit with Nixon (tried Carswell and Haynsworth, did Burger and Rhenquist.­), look at Reagan (promoted Rhenquist, got Scalia, tried for Bork), daddy Bush (Clarence Thomas) and then reflect on what GWB has wrought.

If we decide to redo the Supreme Court, we could have 31 Justices, with the routine business required to be conducted by nine Justice panels randomly selected on a case by case basis. This would give us at least triple the work product and assure the minimum of hanky panky. Further, we could establish a process of rehearing for the most important and/or controversial matters, with 27 randomly chosen Justices participating. No problem with a power freak or zealot getting control of a lot of 14-13 decisions.

Then we would only have to establish a fair and reasonable basis for getting the other 22 Justices chosen and that would be the last time that we would have to worry about our rights and liberties just because the Supremes happened to be in session.