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From the Washington Post today:
"The chief justice of the United States, William H. Rehnquist, underwent cancer-related surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital on Saturday but plans to return to the bench for oral arguments when the Supreme Court reconvenes Nov. 1, the court announced yesterday."
While Bush and Kerry may seem much of a muchness on a lot of election issues there is a huge gaping chasm separating the methodologies the two would have when choosing members of the Supreme Court.
If I recall correctly, the average age of supreme court justices is currently 71 or something with Chief Justice Rehnquist at 80 or so. There's a pretty good chance that sometime in the next 4 years there will have to be a replacement for the chief and maybe a handful of brand new justices too. It is also likely that whoever is chosen will be around for the next 10 years or more.
That's much longer than the next president and it's likely that most controversial issues (civil rights for same sex couples, ethics and medical practices etc etc) will end up in the Supreme Court. What kind of person would Bush choose? What kind would Kerry choose? Which kind would you prefer?
There's going to be a big change in the supreme court in this next presidential term and although this is not a big election issue in the media it will probably have a much greater impact than many of the key debate issues so have a think about that :)
"The chief justice of the United States, William H. Rehnquist, underwent cancer-related surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital on Saturday but plans to return to the bench for oral arguments when the Supreme Court reconvenes Nov. 1, the court announced yesterday."
While Bush and Kerry may seem much of a muchness on a lot of election issues there is a huge gaping chasm separating the methodologies the two would have when choosing members of the Supreme Court.
If I recall correctly, the average age of supreme court justices is currently 71 or something with Chief Justice Rehnquist at 80 or so. There's a pretty good chance that sometime in the next 4 years there will have to be a replacement for the chief and maybe a handful of brand new justices too. It is also likely that whoever is chosen will be around for the next 10 years or more.
That's much longer than the next president and it's likely that most controversial issues (civil rights for same sex couples, ethics and medical practices etc etc) will end up in the Supreme Court. What kind of person would Bush choose? What kind would Kerry choose? Which kind would you prefer?
There's going to be a big change in the supreme court in this next presidential term and although this is not a big election issue in the media it will probably have a much greater impact than many of the key debate issues so have a think about that :)
