Obama Should Nominate Feingold Next to Supreme Court
Congratulations to President Obama and to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Obama made a historic pick and stood by her, and Sotomayor will bring great distinction and -- yes -- empathy to the Court.
Now the question is, who's next?
It seems likely that Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg will step down before Obama's term is over.
I'd like to suggest that the President nominate Sen. Russ Feingold to fill the next spot.
Feingold has the intellectual heft for the job, as he was a Rhodes Scholar and then graduated from Harvard Law School.
He is one of the staunchest defenders of civil liberties in the country, and he chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. Not afraid to stand alone, he was the sole Senator to vote against the USA Patriot Act. He also has led the fight against illegal domestic spying, and he has spoken out strongly against the shredding of due process in the Military Commissions Act.
Here's why Feingold should be attractive to Obama.
During the presidential campaign, Obama recognized the benefits of nominating someone who has held political office. Asked at a town hall meeting in Westerville, Ohio, on March 3, 2008, about whether he would return to that earlier presidential practice of nominating political figures as opposed to simply picking from people on the lower courts, Obama responded: "I think you're absolutely right."
"Some of our best justices," he added, have come not from the lower courts, but from "people who know a little about how the world works and who know what it looks like outside of a courtroom."
Historically, almost one out of every four justices had previously served in Congress. Five were incumbent Senators, including Hugo Black. But since Black retired in 1971, no one from Congress has made it up to the high court.
On the campaign trail, Obama also said, in his interview with the Rev. Rick Warren, that he wanted someone on the Supreme Court who would guard against expansive Presidential powers. Here was Obama's answer to Warren's question about why he didn't vote for Chief Justice Roberts: "One of the most important jobs of the Supreme Court is to guard against the encroachments of the Executive Branch on the power of the other branches."
There is no one in the country who guards against those encroachments with more backbone than Russ Feingold.
Two other practical considerations are in Feingold's favor.
First, he's only 56 and seems in very good health and could likely serve on the Court for decades.
Second, and more importantly, he may very well be the most progressive confirmable person Obama could choose for this spot.
Feingold has made a habit of working across the aisle, as evidenced by the McCain-Feingold campaign reform law, as well as his work on the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act and his fiscal hawkishness. It would be very difficult for his Republican colleagues to deny him a seat on the highest court.
Would Feingold be interested in being on the Supreme Court? I asked him once, and the idea seemed to entice him.
Obama would do himself proud, and his progressive base proud, and the Constitution proud, by nominating Russ Feingold to fill the next vacancy on the Supreme Court.
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I'd love to see him on the court. We do need men like him in the Senate, but, depending on which way the wind blows, he could be defeated and replaced by a conservative Republican. If he were on the court, he would have life tenure and we'd be guaranteed of his good influence and service for many years to come.
He'd be there to defend against the takeover of the government by wingnuts!
I would rather see Dianne Feinstein from California! She's smart, she has incredible experience and she is a woman. There is no reason why half the court should not be women!
Feinstein is waaaaay too conservative.
Here's why not! Feingold will do more good
as President in the years a head.
Feingold would be great. He needs to be at the forefront. He is one of the only Dems that has both spine and progressiveness.
' It seems likely that Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsberg will step down before Obama's term is over.'
These two being the only Justices not from Harvard or Yale, it
will be all the more interesting to see who will replace them.
At this point, Yale is way under-represented, so Boola, Boola, Eli Yale!
' Perhaps John F. Kennedy said it best and most facetiously at a speech in New
Haven after he had been awarded an honorary degree, "Now," he said, "I have
the best of both worlds: a Harvard education and a Yale degree." - Ben Stein
Famously available Yalies (L.L.B.): Hillary Clinton, Arlen Specter, Joe Lieberman, Ben Stein
Excellent, excellent idea. Though he is one of my favorite Senators and would be sorely missed, the people of his state are obviously sensible. and will elect another progressive. We have for so long needed a great mind on the Supreme Court, of the stature of Louis Brandeis, William O. Douglas, William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall. How I long for excellence in the Court -- eloquence, brilliance, liberal values of civil rights, social justice, freedom of speech and right to privacy, rights of the environment.
Russ Feingold is brilliant, intelligent, educated in school and life, with the experience of fighting for civil liberties. He is needed. He would be remembered later on, as one of the great Supremes.
Now that Ted Kennedy is incapacitated, Senator Feingold is my favorite senator with a ton of integrity, he would make a great Supreme Court justice or President.
Feingold is probably the senator I admire most in the U.S. Senate. He would be terribly missed in the Senate, but could make a tremendous impact on the Supreme Court.
I have no doubt that Sen Feingold would be a great choice as a SCOTUS justice, but I'm afraid that we just cannot spare him from the Senate!!
"Second, and more importantly, he may very well be the most progressive confirmable person Obama could choose for this spot."
That's true. In adition to Senatorial courtesy, Feingold could benefit from the support of Senators who wish to be rid of him in their chamber.
It's a great idea, but we need Sen. Feingold in the Senate. I'd love to see Sen. Whitehouse on the Supreme Court.
OMG, this is the best idea since beer. I would dance in the street for this one. BRAVO!
Diversity would be represented by Feingold. We need a real liberal on the court. A voice of conscious with integrity. He certainly represents that and because he is a voice of integrity he would represent all the populace, not just the liberals. GREAT IDEA!!!
Supreme Court should represent diversity of America. Time for Asian American to be appointed.
Doris Ling-Cohen NY supreme court, Wallace Tashima Ninth Circuit , Denny Chin NY.
How about John Yoo??? He could write ALL the Memos!!
As a WI resident, I'd prefer him where he is. Selfishness aside, he would be a good pick. There's one problem, he's not a judge. For some reason being on an appelate court seems to be a prerequiste for being named to SOCTUS. There's a bigger issue here, and that is Feingold never supported Obama in the Primaries (though he didn't suport anyone really). He called him out on his less than progressive views and basically mocked the kids who called him a progressive while doing nothing to earn that title. The only politician he was worse to was Edwards.
Republicans won't go for him because:
-supporter of Campaign Finance Reform
-pro choice
-2 marriages
-"crazy" liberal
We need to pick another woman to help beat back the guys and their old fashioned thought processes!
How about Rachel Maddow?
haha...she is not a judge..i would vote for her too..lol
lol I would totally vote for her but I wouldn't want to set a dangerous precedent where we might someday end up with Justice Limbaugh
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