Some Supreme Court clerks from the 2000-2001 term, when Bush v. Gore was decided, have talked.
A friend of mine from college and law school clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist that term. A few months after Bush v. Gore, I e-mailed my friend to ask how it felt to work on that case. He responded that while he couldn’t go into details, it was probably going to be the highlight of his legal career, an experience he’d probably never be able to top or forget. I’ve always envied him for it.
Imagining America if George Bush Chose the Supreme Court
I’d guess that the justices most likely to retire in the next four years would be Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice O’Connor, and perhaps Justice Stevens.
Here are the general leanings of the current court members:
conservative — Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas
swing voters — O’Connor, Kennedy
liberal — Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer
Clearly, the biggest blow to social liberals would be the loss of Justice Stevens. A Rehnquist retirement wouldn’t change the court that much; an O’Connor retirement would. But the loss of Justice Stevens would be the biggest deal. You don’t hear much about him. He’s currently the oldest justice, at age 84 (he was appointed by Ford in 1975). However, I’ve read that he’s as mentally sharp as ever, and as one of the most liberal of the liberals, I’m sure he wouldn’t want Bush to name his replacement. He’d die on the bench first. (Which I sure hope doesn’t happen.)
If Bush wins, I fervently hope that the Democrats retake the Senate in 2006, if they don’t do so this year.
From one of the rounds of trivia last night: name all seven things for each of the following.
1) All seven deadly sins.
2) All seven states that border Kentucky.
3) All seven number-one songs from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album.
4) All seven original members of “Saturday Night Live.”
5)
6) All seven men currently on the U.S. Supreme Court.
7) All seven original members of the Justice League of America.
8) All seven characters who die in “Hamlet.” (thanks, Dan)
9) All seven “Police Academy” movie titles.
10) All seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia.
Mike has helped me remember some of these [note: so has Dan]. There’s one more category, but I can’t think of it right now.