Quick 8: Goodbye Justice Souter

1. Words of Wisdom from our President: "The process of picking someone to replace Justice Souter is among my most serious responsibilities as President. I will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity. I will seek someone that understands that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory or a footnote in a casebook, it is also how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcomed in their own nation. I view that quality of empathy of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes. I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role. I will seek somebody who shares my respect for constitutional values on which this nation was founded and who brings a thoughtful understanding of how to apply them in our time."


2. This thought has been expressed elsewhere, but allow me to say that I too wish to thank Justice Souter for waiting to retire until there was a decent President.


3. President Obama must nominate a true liberal to the post and he should twist whatever arm is necessary to ensure that his nominee is passed. The Republicans cannot be allowed to block anyone when they have rendered themselves, and the positions that they hold, irrelevant. 


4. The biggest reason to nominate a liberal is because of the judicial performance of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Roberts is especially galling since it is now apparent that he lied in front of Congress before he was voted to be confirmed. The Democrats refused to play hardball with the Republicans and we were stuck with two young, extremely conservative justices who might very well serve until the day they die. It is payback time.


5. Yes, Obama should name another woman to the court. It is absurd that only two women have worn the robes to date. Yes, we need a Latino on the court. Yes, we need a another African-American on the court. (There have, of course, only been two African-American justices in the court's history ... and the current African-American on the court is an embarrassment to humanity.)The makeup of the Supreme Court simply proves that women and minorities have still been denied full and total representation in our society.


6. This is the first of what we now expect to be three nominations that Obama will get to make in his first term. Unfortunately, the best that we can hope for is to maintain the ideological balance of the court since it is expected that Justices Stevens and Ginsberg will be the other retirees. Still, maintaining the current balance is IMPERATIVE. If we allow the Republicans to force a moderate pick, it will have the same effect as a hard right turn on the court, and that would be disastrous for the country as a whole.


7. The good news is that reading the President's statement from the news briefing today leads one to believe that Barack Obama will pick a left leaning judge. After all, Republicans don't consider "empathy" to be worthwhile value in everyday life, let alone in a judge. I'm sure that President Obama has no shortage of justices to choose from that will make us all very proud.


8. Here's a warning about the most annoying part of a Supreme Court nomination fight: those journalists and Americans who whine that one party is attempting to politicize of the court. Sorry folks, that argument that hold water. Even the briefest study of our nation shows that the court has always been politicized. When President Obama nominates a liberal for the position, he will simply be upholding an American tradition.