Filling a vacancy in the SCotUS

[Jimbuna]

Not fully up to speed on the subject matter but the UK press are speculating a new appointment may not be made until a new POTUS is elected or Obama may go for a more liberal appointment in the interim.

[Oberon]

I've heard some idle rumour that Obama might offer himself up for nomination if a Democrat congress and president gets in.

The chaos that would cause.

[Torplexed]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I've heard some idle rumour that Obama might offer himself up for nomination if a Democrat congress and president gets in.

The chaos that would cause.

As far as I can recall, the only ex-President ever appointed to the Supreme Court was William H. Taft as Chief Justice in 1921. But then he had been a federal judge for many years prior to being president. Yeah, since Obama has never even been a judge I don't think it would go over well to put it mildly.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I've heard some idle rumour that Obama might offer himself up for nomination if a Democrat congress and president gets in.

The chaos that would cause.

It would be interesting to see the citation for that. It sounds like something made up on the Internets Tubes.

Legally, there is nothing preventing a president from nominating themselves for the position but there are prohibitions, under the concept of "Incompatible offices" of holding both positions at the same time. Although it is interesting that court cases only address the Legislative Branch, not the Executive Branch. Since this has not come up before, the SCotUS has not ruled on it.

[Tchocky]

Great write-up as always, Platapus

Looking forward to seeing how this pans out. Don't think McConnell has a wonderful argument for delay tbh.

[Oberon]

Oh it is something from the Internet Tubes, an idle rumour as it were, but it is definitely an option if he wants to leave the decision for the next POTUS and Senate to make. I doubt he'd get the nomination, but he could try it.

So, anyway, who is the favourite for the job?

[Tchocky]

Sri Srinivasan from the DC Appeals court is one name I've heard.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

Sri Srinivasan from the DC Appeals court is one name I've heard.

so have I, he is on the short list and was approved by the Senate 97-0 to his current posting, I believe, 3 years ago.

President Obama is still President for another 11 months so he will appoint someone, preferably someone non controversial like judge Srinivasan. This way he throws the ball in McConnell's court and can spend the next year accusing HIM of playing politics if he does not move on it.

[Aktungbby]

It will be interesting to watch. No, actually it will be a painful reminder of how something that should be apolitical is, in fact, very political.

Actually, Obama, a veteran of the Senate, and having put two ladies into the court can afford to slide a little. With two ladies on the Supreme Court;55 judges to the Appeals courts; and 264 judges to the District courts... there are only 39 nominations in 'limbo' including the upcoming Supreme one. POTUS O is hardly losing on points and has left his mark for decades to come. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama The peculiar quasi-sacred nature of the Supreme Court(no packing allowed FDR etc) will allow him to consider his 'lame duck' status against a Republican two-house legislature; He will select a highly qualified Republican candidate acceptable to all. The nature of the sacred court is such that a candidate, once seated, literally "becomes' God's archbishop...not the King's" to misquote Becket. No president has control of a lifelong appointee and party no longer applies. A few presidents have thus regretted their appointments...

Generally speaking, nominees who have evolved in unanticipated ways did not have federal court backgrounds," said David Garrow, a Supreme Court historian at Emory University. "It's a response to the pressures of Washington, with the Supreme Court presenting legal questions they did not have to confront before."
They include Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice William Brennan, two Eisenhower appointees who from the 1950s to the 1970s led the court in assaulting racial segregation and expanding individual rights against the government. Warren was a former Republican governor of California; Brennan, a New Jersey state court judge, was coveted partly as a Catholic.
Eisenhower later said the two were among his biggest presidential mistakes.
Other "disappointments," according to historians, were Harry Blackmun, Nixon's law-and-order choice who penned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision making abortion a constitutional right. He later opposed the death penalty.

Other notables: [QUOTE] Some of the Supreme Court justices who defied expectations of the presidents who appointed them: Oliver Wendell Holmes, appointed by Republican Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, sided with businesses and voted against the president in a case challenging the Sherman Antitrust Act. Roosevelt reportedly said of Holmes afterward, ``Out of a banana I could carve a firmer backbone.''
Felix Frankfurter, appointed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, became a strong advocate of judicial restraint, clashing with liberal members who sought an active court role in protecting minorities and monitoring fairness in the political process, such as legislative redistricting.
Earl Warren, appointed by Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, presided as chief justice over a court that assaulted racial segregation, outlawed school prayer and expanded individual rights against arbitrary government searches.
William Brennan, appointed by Eisenhower in 1956, became the liberal architect of the Warren Court's decisions, and later secured majorities supporting affirmative action and overturning flag-burning laws.
John Paul Stevens, appointed by Republican Gerald Ford in 1975, became a leader of the court's more liberal bloc in pushing a strict line between church and state, greater federal authority over states and protecting abortion rights.
Anthony Kennedy, appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1988, was a key swing vote in decisions promoting gay rights, barring prayer at school graduation and outlawing the death penalty for people who committed crimes as juveniles. David H. Souter, appointed by Republican George H.W. Bush in 1990, generally sides with the court's more liberal members in promoting abortion rights, upholding affirmative action and limiting use of the death penalty
[/QUOTE] In short Obama knows to 'throw the Senate a bone' and focus on his Presidential library on this one; any justice nominated will go his own way ...anyway! It's ultimate judicial perk!

[Commander Wallace]

This is a great dissertation Platapus. It obviously took you a while to write everything.

Thanks for taking the time out to put together this informative and well written article.
I wasn't aware that Justice Scalia had passed away yesterday. Condolences to his family and friends and colleagues .

Mitch McConnell has gone on record as saying that any new appointments to the Supreme Court should done by the new, incoming president. The Senate is afraid of any new appointments by President Obama that would support his liberal views and agendas.


Mitch has been the Majority leader of the U.S Senate since Jan. of 2015.

[Platapus]

So far only one US President has gone to be later a Justice. That was William Taft and there were 8 years between leaving the presidency and becoming a Justice.

I don't know if we will ever have an ex-president holding an official office any more

There is a common cultural elief that a former president should not hold other offices. This was one of the rationals for the The Former Presidents Act of 1958 (3 U.S.C. § 102)

[Onkel Neal]

Excellent thread, and summary, Platapus. I think since the President has almost a full year left in office, it is necessary for the Senate to hear any nominations he wishes to make to fill the vacancy. Now is a good time for the President to make good on his wishes for less polarization. He could nominate a moderate candidate, no more Sotomayors.