Justice Scalia is DEAD - Obama can now REMAKE the US Supreme Court

[mce]

Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch - San Antonio Express-News

Judging solely from Obama's last 2 Supreme Court appointments, he's in a HISTORICAL POSITION to change the Supreme Court's ideological balance for GOOD.

For decades now, the USC has depended on 'moderate' justices like Kennedy to swing left or right.

Justice Antonin Scalia with Justice Clarence Thomas was one of the MOST CONSISTENT CONSERVATIVE VOICES on the top bench...

Not anymore... with the addition of one more LIBERAL JUDGE, the SC can swing left ALL the time.

[Rob]

I already had the scoop, homeboy.

http://gfy.com/fucking-around-and-pr...ting-trip.html

[Rob]

(I think I may have inadvertently created an infinite loop)

[Joshua G]

there is no chance on earth the senate is acting on an obama pick. they will simply not convene the senate, all year long, if necessary.

glad the prick is dead, by far the least professional of the justices.

[Penny24Seven]

2nd is the first loser

can we get a time line in here

[blackmonsters]

I guess the republicans will be shutting down the government again.

[Horatio Caine]

Can't wait for supreme court rulings on tranys and their bathroom choices.

[Coup]

Liberals_after_hearing_the_news.flv

[Sly]

there is no chance on earth the senate is acting on an obama pick. they will simply not convene the senate, all year long, if necessary.

Big election year with a lot on the line for both parties. I don't see anyone rocking the cradle. This will stall out or someone fairly moderate (that everyone can agree on) will take the seat.

[Joshua G]

Big election year with a lot on the line for both parties. I don't see anyone rocking the cradle. This will stall out or someone fairly moderate (that everyone can agree on) will take the seat.

funny thing is how it raises the stakes for dems in november...win the white house, win the supreme court.

but they will lose because they rallied around hilary.

[Tubthumper]

I wonder who President Trump will pick.

[Relentless]

No chance a nominee gets confirmed before the election...

[SuckOnThis]

I wonder who President Trump will pick.

[crockett]

I guess the republicans will be shutting down the government again.

But of course it will be the liberals fault!

[baddog]

There is no rush in replacing him; Obama certainly won't be the one appointing the next one. Besides, don't you want your choice for President to have that ability?

[arock10]

Dis gunna be good

[SuckOnThis]

There is no rush in replacing him; Obama certainly won't be the one appointing the next one. Besides, don't you want your choice for President to have that ability?

Obama is America's choice for President twice and has every right to nominate who he sees fit. To leave the SC non-functional for a year because you righties are playing politics is reprehensible. Reagan nominated Kennedy in an election year and the Dems didnt play silly ass child games.

[kane]

There has been a lot of talk among republican candidates about appointing new justices. They can't be happy right now.

Obama could just wait for the senate to be on recess and appoint someone, but last time he did that we found out that the republicans had played a slick game to make it so that they were never technically on recess. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[LAJ]

Covered: YNOT » SCOTUS Justice Scalia Found Dead on Texas Ranch

[bronco67]

I'm not going to take credit for this great comment I saw on another message board...

"Justice Antonin Scalia dead after battling 30 years of social progress".

[LAJ]

I'm not going to take credit for this great comment I saw on another message board...

"Justice Antonin Scalia dead after battling 30 years of social progress".

BRILLIANT

[Robbie]

Obama is America's choice for President twice and has every right to nominate who he sees fit. To leave the SC non-functional for a year because you righties are playing politics is reprehensible. Reagan nominated Kennedy in an election year and the Dems didnt play silly ass child games.

The court won't be non-functional. They will still hear cases. But if there is a tie in voting of 4-4, then the case law of the lower courts would be upheld.

Hopefully Pres. Obama will nominate someone that will be able to get through the nomination process.
But that takes a lot of reaching out and negotiating with Congress. Reagan was very good at that. Obama not so much.

[tony286]

The court won't be non-functional. They will still hear cases. But if there is a tie in voting of 4-4, then the case law of the lower courts would be upheld.

Hopefully Pres. Obama will nominate someone that will be able to get through the nomination process.
But that takes a lot of reaching out and negotiating with Congress. Reagan was very good at that. Obama not so much.

Dude the man wasnt even cold and the various members of the gop were saying no one gets thru.

[SuckOnThis]

The court won't be non-functional. They will still hear cases. But if there is a tie in voting of 4-4, then the case law of the lower courts would be upheld.

That's true, but what about cases that have not made its way up from lower courts? Think about this one, Cruz gets the nomination and Trump files a lawsuit on the natural born citizen issue. The SC rules 4-4 and since there is no legal precedence then what? It would certainly be fascinating.

[kane]

Dude the man wasnt even cold and the various members of the gop were saying no one gets thru.

I'm pretty sure the republicans will do everything they can to make certain Obama can't appoint a new justice hoping they win the white house and their new president can then appoint the person. If used correctly by the democrats, this might actually hurt the republican candidate.

[arock10]

That's true, but what about cases that have not made its way up from lower courts? Think about this one, Cruz gets the nomination and Trump files a lawsuit on the natural born citizen issue. The SC rules 4-4 and since there is no legal precedence then what? It would certainly be fascinating.

Civil war only answer

[Robbie]

That's true, but what about cases that have not made its way up from lower courts? Think about this one, Cruz gets the nomination and Trump files a lawsuit on the natural born citizen issue. The SC rules 4-4 and since there is no legal precedence then what? It would certainly be fascinating.

I don't know.
But I don't think any cases get to the Supreme Court without being litigated first by lower courts. Isn't that the way it works? I'm not sure...

[Robbie]

Dude the man wasnt even cold and the various members of the gop were saying no one gets thru.

Oh I know.

It was Republicans immediately screaming about a lame duck President, blah-blah-blah (which is ridiculous...President Obama can and will nominate someone)

And Democrats openly celebrating on every comment section of every news site. (very uncool).

I just hope that Marco Rubio isn't the next President...that motherfucker is EXTREME and I know he would nominate the most right wing conservative judge he could find.

[Best-In-BC]

[2MuchMark]

I think someone new has to be appointed right away. With one Justice missing, can the supreme court still operate? And if they did, wouldn't any decisions they make be less than binding, or at least be heavily legally scrutinized?

[Barry-xlovecam]

I'm not going to take credit for this great comment I saw on another message board...

"Justice Antonin Scalia dead after battling 30 years of social progress".

It is rare that I rejoice upon someoneâ??s death -- Antonin Scalia was the most hostile Supreme Court Justice toward the adult entertainment (porn) business and on most sexual issues was just a bag of shit. Even his buddy Clarence Thomas liked men's magazines if you remember the Anita Hill testimony. Sorry, Judge Scalia's passing comes as no tragedy as far as I am concerned.

I expect the Republicans to block any nomination that Obama makes -- even that of a to-the-right-nominee. Governance by obstruction has been Republican policy for the past 6 years. Let us see what happens ...

[mce]

I'm sure a lot of liberals are quite sad that Judge Reinhardt is too old for the top court. Stephen Reinhardt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Otherwise, he'd make a great USC pick to steer the court LEFT for a couple of generations.

[Rochard]

I was Rolling On The Floor Laughing So Hard My Sombrero Fell Off And I Droped My Taco....

[Barry-xlovecam]

IMHO, SCOTUS Associate Justices should be as close to centrist, impartial and unbiased as possible. If this were so we would not have so much legislation from the bench biased by ''liberal and conservative'' prejudice.

US governance is a zero-sum 3 handed game of rock-paper-scissors today

[mce]

Looks like Obama might nominate the first (south) ASIAN Justice of the US Supreme Court. It's going to be a tough sell because the guy was in Obama's Sol Gen office.

[GregE]

I wonder who President Trump will pick.

Hard to say, but my guess is that it'll be somebody whom bible thumpers don't like.

[MiamiBoyz]

GOOD!

Hope the old fucker is burning in hell at this very moment!

Fuck him and good riddance!

[Mutt]

Obama will nominate somebody but not a chance in hell the Senate doesn't stall things until Obama is gone - gonna be a mess.

According to tradition Supreme Court justices aren't nominated in an outgoing president's last year in office -hasn't happened in 80 years according to Ted Cruz in last night's debate

[JSWENSON]

There is no rush in replacing him; Obama certainly won't be the one appointing the next one. Besides, don't you want your choice for President to have that ability?

1) I find it absolutely hilarious that there are still people in this thread talking as if Republicans had a chance in hell of electing a President. The electorate doesn't line up for that to happen but lol for keeping the faith.

2) I knew baddog would be in here spewing garbage. It will be a year for a new President to be sworn in. Only a damn fool would think Obama wouldn't appoint a justice. Not only would he like to cement his legacy it is his job to do so.

3) Oh yes, please let conservatives stomp their feet and drag this out. The average time it takes for an appointment to be approved by Congress is about 3 months in recent history. If they turn this into a political cryfest as they've done several times over the last 7 years they will not only send moderates and Independents to the Democratic nominee they will cause voter turnout to skyrocket. America is already going progressive, a hissy fit by Congress over this would only speed up that process and downticket races will flip liberal.

4) This is a win / win for Democrats. Political junkies already expected 2 or 3 nominations to be decided under the next President but a conservative Justice being replaced before that means that this topic will be on the minds of every remotely informed voter. Even the most apathetic of voters will wake up to the reality that this will change the landscape of the USA for 30+ years and they will get out and vote. Either Democrats get a more liberal than Scalia justice in before the election or they have a massive win taking the Presidency and several seats to boot.

5) This has been a terrible few years for conservatives and I'm laughing my ass off.

[JSWENSON]

Obama will nominate somebody but not a chance in hell the Senate doesn't stall things until Obama is gone - gonna be a mess.

According to tradition Supreme Court justices aren't nominated in an outgoing president's last year in office -hasn't happened in 80 years according to Ted Cruz in last night's debate

Senate, 97 to 0, Confirms Kennedy to High Court - NYTimes.com

[kane]

Obama will nominate somebody but not a chance in hell the Senate doesn't stall things until Obama is gone - gonna be a mess.

According to tradition Supreme Court justices aren't nominated in an outgoing president's last year in office -hasn't happened in 80 years according to Ted Cruz in last night's debate

I'm not so sure it is tradition so much as there just hasn't been the opportunity for it to happen. Reagan appointed Kennedy during his last year in office.

There will be a fight, that much is for sure.

I will laugh my ass off if the Republicans put up a huge fight and play dirty just to keep any Obama nominee out then either lose control of the senate or watch a democrat win.

They will shit their pants if they fought to keep an Obama nominee out and Bernie ends up being president.

[JSWENSON]

Obama certainly won't be the one appointing the next one.

Do you ever get anything right?

Obama: ?I Plan to Fulfill My Constitutional Responsibility to Nominate a Successor? - The New York Times

[mce]

I'm not so sure it is tradition so much as there just hasn't been the opportunity for it to happen. Reagan appointed Kennedy during his last year in office.

While that is technically true, the opening actually opened up in 1987. The reason why Reagan only got Kennedy on board in 1988 was because Reagan's first 2 choices: Bork and Ginsburg flamed out in 1987. See the dates at Anthony Kennedy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and look at background info (ie., previous 2 nominees)

Takeaway? The TRADITION DOES EXIST despite Reagan's 1988 appointment of Justice Kennedy.

[mce]

there is no chance on earth the senate is acting on an obama pick. they will simply not convene the senate, all year long, if necessary.

Well, Obama can do a recess appointment.... but that will only lead to a temporary appointment plus the SCOTUS narrowed such presidential power. SEE: Is a recess appointment to the Court an option? : SCOTUSblog

[SuckOnThis]

I don't know.
But I don't think any cases get to the Supreme Court without being litigated first by lower courts. Isn't that the way it works? I'm not sure...

I wasn't 100% sure either but being fascinated by the legal system I had to research it because I do remember a few cases not going through the normal process of working their way up through the lower courts. Bush V. Gore was one, although it did go through Florida's Supreme Court first it was fast tracked to the US Supreme Court without going through the circuit courts first.

According to the rules of the SC, Supreme Court Rule 11 provides that a case may be taken by the Court before judgment in a lower court "only upon a showing that the case is of such imperative public importance as to justify deviation from normal appellate practice and to require immediate determination in this Court."

Procedures of the Supreme Court of the United States

[bronco67]

Obama will nominate somebody but not a chance in hell the Senate doesn't stall things until Obama is gone - gonna be a mess.

According to tradition Supreme Court justices aren't nominated in an outgoing president's last year in office -hasn't happened in 80 years according to Ted Cruz in last night's debate

never take anything Cruz says at face value. He will say whatever pops into his head as long as it aids his argument at any given moment.

Ted Cruz Gets Called Out By Debate Moderator For Making Up Facts About The Supreme Court | ThinkProgress

[The Porn Nerd]

The SC will not change.
It's all fixed.

Have a nice day.

[VikingMan]

Perhaps conservatives should have told Scalia to conserve his food a bit more.

[Mutt]

Perhaps conservatives should have told Scalia to conserve his food a bit more.

79 is a pretty decent age to make it to with all your marbles still working at a very important job. He died in his sleep - who wouldn't take dying in their sleep at 79?

His politics aside, Scalia is considered a brilliant legal mind.

[SuckOnThis]

Perhaps conservatives should have told Scalia to conserve his food a bit more.

Oh it wasnt the food, just ask these guys....