Supreme Court Nominations
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced today that he was retiring from the bench. Breyer, initially appointed by Bill Clinton, held himself to be above politics, although he was most often thought of as a member of the liberal wing. I believe him. As others wiser than I have observed, there are issues over which reasonable people can disagree.
Historical Practice
Reviewing the Congressional Record, I find the following:
Brown versus Board of Education was decided unanimously, outlawing segregation in public schools and overturning Plessy v Ferguson. Not a single justice on that Court was questioned during confirmation hearings about his position on school segregation, the only standard being fitness to judge.
Mapp versus Ohio was decided in favor of extending the Bill of Rights to the States. Not a single justice in that decision was questioned during confirmation hearings about his view on the matter.
Roe versus Wade was decided in favor of abortion on demand. Not a single justice who heard that case was questioned about his or her view on abortion. The only standard was fitness to judge.
Creating a Partisan Court
All of that came to a crashing halt in 1987 with the nomination of Robert Bork . His hearing and nomination vote were both controlled by then-Senator Joe Biden, whose standards were expanded to include agreement with Biden’s partisan agenda. The Senate rejected Bork’s nomination. President Reagan offered to withdraw the nomination, but Bork insisted it go to a full Senate vote to make plain the partisan nature of the outcome. Whether I agreed or not with Bork’s positions, I had to agree with his demand for a vote.
And now here’s Joey, Director of the High-Tech Lynching. In addition to the expanded standard of agreeing with his ideological positions, two more requirements have been added. First, the nominee must have a vagina. Second, the nominee must be black. I’m sure that qualification to judge is somewhere in a footnote. Well, maybe it’s in a footnote, maybe not.
But who cares.
What's practically an own goal is for President Biden to announce beforehand that the nominee WILL (must?) be a Black Woman.
You know, Biden could have simply kept his mouth shut, and then nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, and leave it to other people to bring up the "identity" implications.
???
You're showing your age here Bill. Vaginaless "women" would be extra qualified.