Supreme Court

[bedub1]

John Paul Stevens, Appointed December 19th, 1975 by Gerald Ford, is retiring. President Obama is now taxed with choosing his replacement.

Before that occurs, lets take a look at who currently makes up the Supreme Court

John Paul Stevens - Gerald Ford
Antonin Scalia - Ronald Reagan
Anthony Kennedy - Ronald Reagan
Clarence Thomas - George H W Bush
Ruth Bader Ginsbug - Bill Clinton
Stephen Breyer - Bill Clinton
John G Roberts - George W Bush
Samuel Alito - George W Bush
Sonia Sotomayor - Barack Obama

If you can manage to remember back to August of 2009, you will remember Barack Obama has already chosen 1 justice.

Who do you think he should choose for his 2nd appointment? Do you think he should have a set of requirements, or "litmus test" for subjects such as Abortion etc?

Do you even approve of the way justices are chosen? Do you think it should be up to the President?

EDIT: According to Wikipedia, each justice goes through a senate confirmation vote. Back in the days of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, the vote was typically 98-0. Started with Bill Clinton's appointment, there starts to be a minority that votes "No". This peaked under George H W Bush with the vote for Clarence Thomas, who barely passed with a vote of 52–48. Why do you think this change has occurred? Why aren't the justices unanimously voted in any more? What has changed? Should a judge be picked that 100% of the senate doesn't agree with and confirm?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Co ... ted_States

[Frigidus]

John Paul Stevens, Appointed December 19th, 1975 by Gerald Ford, is retiring. President Obama is now taxed with choosing his replacement.

Before that occurs, lets take a look at who currently makes up the Supreme Court

John Paul Stevens - Gerald Ford
Antonin Scalia - Ronald Reagan
Anthony Kennedy - Ronald Reagan
Clarence Thomas - George H W Bush
Ruth Bader Ginsbug - Bill Clinton
Stephen Breyer - Bill Clinton
John G Roberts - George W Bush
Samuel Alito - George W Bush
Sonia Sotomayor - Barack Obama

If you can manage to remember back to August of 2009, you will remember Barack Obama has already chosen 1 justice.

Who do you think he should choose for his 2nd appointment? Do you think he should have a set of requirements, or "litmus test" for subjects such as Abortion etc?

Do you even approve of the way justices are chosen? Do you think it should be up to the President?

I think it is silly to assume that a justice appointed by the president would serve as a fair judge. I mean, a lot of the time when something goes to the Supreme Court people are able to predict the outcome before the trial even starts. Then again, there really isn't a good alternative.

[Snorri1234]

Obama will select someone quite liberal, but arguably to the right of Stevens. Liberals will grumble, but not be too terribly unhappy. Conservatives will claim that this makes the court much more liberal, and Stevens will magically have been a moderate.

[Kid_A]

Who do you think he should choose for his 2nd appointment?

Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi

[oddzy]

on a related note, jenny granholm - a canadian by birth - is at times mentioned as a possible contender.

any feelings about that?