"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

SCOTUS FACT: Justices agree with each other - more often than not

An overlooked fact: according to recent surveys, NONE of the Justices votes with any other Justice less than half the time.

Think about that. NONE of the Justices votes with any other Justice less than half the time. It means that all of the Justices have more in common with each other, and agree with each other MORE than they disagree with each other.

I think we should keep this in mind as things heat up (as they are bound to) IF-AND-WHEN a Justice retires and Bush makes a nomination.

We shouldn't let the "one-issue hot-heads" make us lose sight of the fact that most distinguished jurists agree and disagree on many many things, and you can NEVER predict what issues will come before the SCOTUS, or how a person will judge once they become a Justice of the SCOTUS.

So, we should only insist that the nominees be highly qualified. That's all.

ANOTHER KEY POINT: the character of the court will not change if a conservative Justice retires and Bush replaces him with another conservative. So the real battle royales shouldn't occur until Stevens or Bader-Ginsburg retires. Or perhaps O'Connor - who has been a ket swing votes - swinging Leftward more often than not. Which leads me to my advice to the Democrats and the Left: if-and-when Rehnquist retires and Bush selects a qualified conservative - confirm him quickly. If you don't, you're just gonna look like a bunch of sore-losers.

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