28 Mar 13
You'd think that the US supreme court would be made up of justices from throughout the US, but it isn't so.
5 out of 9 are from the New York/ New Jersey area. 2 are from Northern California. One is from the South and another from what I would consider the North East, Indiana.
I just found it odd and I also find it rather disturbing.
28 Mar 13
Originally posted by EladarWhy is this surprising? Appointed means "stooge".
You'd think that the US supreme court would be made up of justices from throughout the US, but it isn't so.
5 out of 9 are from the New York/ New Jersey area. 2 are from Northern California. One is from the South and another from what I would consider the North East, Indiana.
I just found it odd and I also find it rather disturbing.
They know how they will vote before they are given the job.
FDR recognized this. That is why he wanted the power to appoint a bunch of stooges in his court packing scheme. He just go a little impatient is all.
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28 Mar 13
Originally posted by EladarYou find that shocking?
You'd think that the US supreme court would be made up of justices from throughout the US, but it isn't so.
5 out of 9 are from the New York/ New Jersey area. 2 are from Northern California. One is from the South and another from what I would consider the North East, Indiana.
I just found it odd and I also find it rather disturbing.
Elena Kagan is Jewish, as are Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All of the other justices—Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Sonia Sotomayor—are Catholic. How did this situation come about in a historically Protestant-dominated country? And should evangelicals be concerned?
Oh, and the male/female mix is out of balance. There should be 4 of each and one hermaphrodite "swing" vote.
28 Mar 13
Originally posted by EladarI think a more geographic-dispersed representation would generally be more desirable, but I really don't care. A much more important issue is that justices be moderates such as Ginsburg and Sotomayor, and not radical fringe far right freaks out of the mainstream with unsound constitutional jurisprudence, such as Scalia and Thomas.
You'd think that the US supreme court would be made up of justices from throughout the US, but it isn't so.
5 out of 9 are from the New York/ New Jersey area. 2 are from Northern California. One is from the South and another from what I would consider the North East, Indiana.
I just found it odd and I also find it rather disturbing.
28 Mar 13
Originally posted by JS357Yes, the geographical breakdown, as well as the gender, religious, and national origins are meaningless. What has been critical is the ideological bent, and particularly so for the conservatives.
You find that shocking?
Elena Kagan is Jewish, as are Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. All of the other justices—Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Sonia Sotomayor—are Catholic. How did this situation come about in a historically Protestant-dominated country? And should evangelica ...[text shortened]... le/female mix is out of balance. There should be 4 of each and one hermaphrodite "swing" vote.
The Justices appointed by Democrats are almost always dependable, however, not so much with Republican appointees. Roberts is just the latest to surprise court watchers. O'Connor, Kennedy were always "swing" votes.
Listening to the commentary on the Prop 8, and DOMA cases, I speculate that both will go in favor of gay marriage, but wonder which conservative will break ranks. Right now I'm looking at Alito based on oral arguments. Sotomayor asked some unexpected questions, but I doubt she will break ranks.
Perhaps the great difficulty of Republican Presidents getting their appointees past the Senate since Robert Bork, leads them to choose more pliable justices. I really thought that both McCain/Feingold and Obama care had to be reversed by a conservative majority, but it didn't happen in either case.
I had never thought about the religious makeup of the court, and 6 Catholics and two Jews is strange in a predominantly protestant or secular county. Ginsberg is of course retired. What is Stephen's professed religion?
28 Mar 13
Originally posted by moon1969LOL. Ginsburg moderate? Sotomayor?
I think a more geographic-dispersed representation would generally be more desirable, but I really don't care. A much more important issue is that justices be moderates such as Ginsburg and Sotomayor, and not radical fringe far right freaks out of the mainstream with unsound constitutional jurisprudence, such as Scalia and Thomas.
They are as radical leftists as Scalia and Thomas are textual viewers of the Constitution.