Gird your loins: Justice Stevens announces summer retirement plans
It’s Retirement Friday! On the heels of Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak’s retirement plans, SCOTUS Justice John Paul Stevens confirms swirling rumors of his upcoming retirement this summer. News breaking on the wires and Twitter. AP:
Stevens says he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in late June or early July.
His announcement Friday in Washington had been hinted at for months. It comes 11 days before his 90th birthday.
Stevens began signaling a possible retirement last summer when he hired just one of his usual complement of four law clerks for the next court term. He acknowledged in several interviews that he was contemplating stepping down and would certainly do so during Obama’s presidency.
The timing of his announcement leaves ample time for the White House to settle on a successor and Senate Democrats, who control 59 votes, to conduct confirmation hearings and a vote. Republicans have not ruled out an attempt to delay confirmation.
The leading candidates to replace Stevens are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 49, and federal appellate Judges Merrick Garland, 57, and Diane Wood, 59.
The Left is preparing for a “pitched battle.”
Background on Kagan and Wood here.
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Categories: Supreme Court
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Which agent of Satan will Obama appoint? What manner of poison does he already have waiting in the wings? No good ever comes of this president.
I wonder if the November elections have anything to do with his summer retirement?
This is like being on a roller coaster going through Tunnel of the House of Horrors. The only difference is that we may not come out alive at the end of the tunnel.
We definitely won’t come out with our beloved America alive as we know it. God help us!
You can bet he/she/it will be a follower of redistribution, reparations and misinterpretation of the Constitution as well as a cheer leader for using EU laws to supplant our own.
Wonder if he/she/it will be another Wise Latina?
So what was in the deal for Stevens to retire now? Obama won’t stop until he has all power lodged in marxism.
Kevin Lomax: “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven”, is that it?
John Milton: Why not? I’m here on the ground with my nose in it since the whole thing began. I’ve nurtured every sensation man’s been inspired to have. I cared about what he wanted and I never judged him. Why? Because I never rejected him. In spite of all his imperfections, I’m a fan of man! I’m a humanist. Maybe the last humanist.
John Milton: And as we’re straddling from one deal to the next, who’s got his eye on the planet, as the air thickens, the water sours, and even the bees’ honey takes on the metallic taste of radioactivity? And it just keeps coming, faster and faster. There’s no chance to think, to prepare; it’s buy futures, sell futures, when there is no future.
Kevin Lomax: What are you?
John Milton: Oh, I have so many names…
Kevin Lomax: Satan.
John Milton: Call me Dad.
Big surprise. Obviously he told BO of this long ago. Does this mean Goodwin Liu skips Go and heads straight to SCOTUS? Good grief that place will be a circus.
John Milton: Lawyers are the devil’s ministry.
—————————————-
John Milton: Now with this? Now that you’re down? I’d get ready for one of those, Class-A, New York-style pigf!@#s.
And Republican Leadership may talk tough at first, but no doubt in the end emulate “Brave Sir Robin”.
When it comes to pitched battle, the GOP leadership often wilts when the Left so much as pitches a wiffle ball.
Too bad he wouldn’t even consider picking me for the office.
I’m not qualified, so that means I am imminently qualified, right?
Why not? The WH already is – TEH ONE is the nation’s carnival midway pitchman and Emanual is the circus ringmaster.
GOP, filibuster it.
Don’t allow Obama to seat another justice until after the elections in November.
Justice Stevens is the last Protestant on the Court. Let’s see if Obama creates a Court that looks like America.
For baby-killing immoral unprincipled lying reprobate pervert Bart Stupak’s retirement: HOORAY! Kudos to the Tea Party Express for putting this creep out of business… just wait and see what kind of cushy government position he gets in return for his sellout.
For Stevens… Well, we can’t be sad to see an anti American subversive leave the court. The only question is what kind of wise (as in wise Latina) racist bigotted left-wing communist ignorant fool Lindsey Graham and Barry Soetoro will put on the court to replace him. I GUARANTEE that whoever it is will be so evil, so scary, that we will wish we lived in Trinidad.
Obama will nominate someone of the most liberal bent he can find – probably an avowed communist. He’ll chose anyone he can give an “in your face” to the conservatives.
Wonder if Patrick Leahy will ask Obama to submit someone who is not so controversial as he did so often to Bush? I doubt it. More hypocrisy by the Dems.
How is it that two liberal Supreme Court justices were nominated by Republican Presidents (Stevens by Ford and Soutar by Bush I)??
If I had my way, I’d establish an 18 year term for Supreme Court justices so that every two years one of the nine justices is replaced, and every President would have the opportunity of nominating two Justices during his term (which is looks like Obama is getting to do, anyway). I’d also set 80 years old as a mandatory retirement age for justices.
this retirement may well provide the litmus test we conservatives want in order to judge which Republican is worth their salt now we are getting down to the end of the game.
I want to see every Republican senator on the judicial committee to fight tooth and nail to rebuke and filibuster everyone of the usurper’s nominees. I want to see them fight just as hard as the dems fought against Bork, Estrada and any other nominee presented by a Republican president.
This is what saving the country is all about, it’s the damn fight and how much fight our senators have. I don’t was to see some jelly bellied senator more worried about senatorial “comity” than they do about their own country.
Show some Balls you spineless, whimps.
I thought there was a courtesy of retiring when a President of the same party was in Office? So if you were appointed by a Republican President, you retired (if possible) when another Republican President was in office. What happened to that?
FILIBUSTER! If we’re lucky we’ll manage to get someone somewhat moderate instead of a dyed in the wool maoist because he’ll know that someone that extreme will never make it through.
My questions are, will Obama make a recess Appointment in the interim? and if so, how leftist will that appointment be? and does the court meet in the summer anyway? I don’t think it does, so a recess appointment might make no difference anyway except for emergency death row appeals and such.
v015eyjd, you do realize that Stevens is just about the most liberal member of the court there is don’t you?
The perfect question – and one which proves that while Republicans earnestly examine a judicial nominee’s qualifications, Democrats are only interested in applying a leftist-litmus test.
The new Supreme Court Justice nominee will be whoever Rahm Emmanuel says it will be.
Even if “The One” appoints another “screaming liberal” to replace Stevens will we see much of a change?
My sentiments exactly.
Yes indeed our Constitution dismissing president will be able to replace an old Constitution dismissing judge with a young Constitution dismissing judge and continue the dismantling rule of law in favor of rule by men. This Constitution by all those slave holding members of the dead white male patriarchy do not apply to these superior types of the modern era does it?
My first and great hate of the Progressive/Liberal is their referring to Brown v Board of Education as the fruit of an activist court. Actually the ruling it overturned, Plessy v Ferguson, was the activist ruling and far from constitutional. The stating of Brown v Board of Education was activist only because Earl Warren was one of the laziest men to ever sit on the court.
Brown v Board of Education was pivotal point in my life-my brother and I were attending the Booker T Washington School for Colored Children. Blacks, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese and Hottentots(who ever they were) were Colored. My brother and I continued until junior high but our brother and sisters started out at the neighborhood school. Prior to Brown v Board of Education after elementary school we could NOT attend the local high school but if we could arrange transportation we could go to the colored high school in Phoenix. The once black Warren Livingston became non black when it was discovered he was a great football player.
I do hate to talk race-I fear coming across as whining and that I do not wish to do. But to this day my family holds dear that white member of the male patriarchy Barry Goldwater. Four years before Brown v Board of Education as member of the city council of Phoenix 1949-1952 HE sponsored the rules ending Separate but Equal in Phoenix which eventually went state wide. The Senator only opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act as it applied to private property: “Governments may not act like XXXXXXs-individuals may“.
But then these XXXXXXs (thanks Barry) who made such a deal out of HATE had no problem making snide remarks about the Senator’s Jewish father in the 1964 Presidential race. Super Liberal of PBS Bill Moyers still does.
Sermon over.
Reaching across the aisle?
We all should expect nothing less!
***
No question on what kind of SCOTUS Justice Comrade Obama (PBUH) will appoint. Another “living” Constitution “wise” Latina type. It won’t change much now–but just wait until one of the five conservative Justices retires. It will be Katy Bar the Door 5-4 decisions against our rights then.
***
The new Justice should be impartial and honest–and should have good legal experience in our federal court systems. We have been badly served by some of the past picks. Witness the clown who decided that the Black Slave Dred Scott was not a person–he was a piece of property that could be owned by another man! Kindov like a cow.
***
I want someone who will do the right thing for all of us–not another agenda driven person. The conservatives and rational people in the Senate should stand up and fight for this type of person–with the filibuster. Force the Messiah to make a better pick than the “wise” Latina. Do it for our country’s future.
***
John Bibb
***
This is a post about the US Supreme Court…
the same Court that in Minor v. Happersett and Wong Kim Ark stated:
Obama does not fit that definition.
He is not eligible to be President regardless of his place of birth.
An interesting thing about Justice Stevens’ retirement is that his replacement will likely be on the Court before a Quo Warranto case challenging Obama’s (in)eligibility is heard by the D.C. District Court and/or appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If/when a Quo Warranto case makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court, I expect any Justice who was nominated by Obama to recuse themselves, since there would be a clear conflict of interest… their own self-interest in retaining their seat on the Court would interfere with them being objective about Obama’s (in)eligibility.
So, with two Justices having to recuse themselves, a majority of the 7 remaining Justices would be 4.
If/when the Supreme Court rules that Obama was never qualified to hold the office of President, then every person nominated by Obama will have to step down and be replaced, and every document signed by Obama will be illegitimate (including ObamaCare).
If that court decision comes after January 2013, those vacancies on the Supreme Court will be filled with Justices nominated by a Republican President and confirmed by a Republican Senate.
Well Stalin is dead, but I think Chavez could be talked into it.
On April 9th, 2010 at 1:00 pm, GladzKravtz said:
In general, I don’t support the use of the filibuster to raise the threshold of “consent” from 50 votes to 60 votes. However, the Democrats so abused this during Bush’s Presidency, and prevented the rule change to prohibit judicial filibusters, that we are strongly tempted to try to use “two wrongs” to “make a right”…
If the GOP filibusters Obama’s judicial nominations, the Democratic Socialists may try to implement the implement the rule change to prohibit judicial filibusters. In the long run, that is the right thing to do, and will benefit us later.
Glitch in the Matrix.
Bruce,
Justice Stevens is a WWII veteran and has served this country in one form or another for close to 50 years.
Share with us what you’ve done for America that qualifies you to sneer at him as anti-American?
If you are a praying person, please pray for the R’s health on the court. Ginsburg(sp) is said to be next to retire, but she is a d so another d would still not crater our country.
L
On April 9th, 2010 at 2:13 pm, vargas said:
Upheld the rule of law?
Acknowledged the US Constitution?
My father was a WW II vet. Millions were. And your point? Stevens is a Constitution dismissing leftist who openly chose rule by men over rule of law. I doubt he thinks so but Justice Stevens was on the wrong side. He is far closer to Hitler and Mussolini than Jefferson or Adams. Justice Stevens would be quite comfortable with the Nuremberg Laws-they are their own higher authority.
We’ve had several Republican-appointed justices that started voting Liberal once on the court. JUST ONCE, can we have a Dem-appointed justice that starts voting Conservative?!
Please!!!
Now is the time to dump Bloviating Biden from Obammy’s ticket.
I fear that if the current veep is shuffled off to the sumpremes, he will be replaced with some other far left looney (Trotsky for example).
Truth is, President Obama doesn’t care if the Supreme Court looks like America. How the Court “looks” is pure Leftist smokescreen. What he absolutely does not want is for the Court to “think” like America. He’ll do whatever he can to push the court toward burying the Constitution and thinking like the world.
This is Stevens looking at the current political climate and realizing that if he doesn’t retire in time for Obummer to get a replacement confirmed before the November elections, he won’t be able to push through a radical Leftist.
Two years ago, back on HotAir.com, a commenter ridiculed me for saying that the most important issue in the 2008 election was the Supreme Court, because the winner would likely nominate 3 or more Justices. (5 of the 9 Justices were age 68 or older at that time, and that was 2 years ago).
The commenter said it would only be one nomination, two tops.
This is already departure #2, and many people think Ginsberg will leave the court before Obama leaves office.
I don’t exactly trust John McCain, but at least he gave lip service to nominating more Justices like Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito.
If Obama were actually Constitutionally eligible to hold the office of President and make these nominations, I would be more concerned. But, he’s not eligible, so I’m not worried. Any Justice he gets on the court is illegitimate, and will have to be either re-nominated or replaced when an eligible person becomes President.
I understand that Hugo Chavez has announced his availability to Obama.
I expect Obama to nominate a consensus candidate. Isn’t that what the liberals insisted on under President Bush?
I hear that our Home Land Security Secretary is on the short list for this position. Not bad for a person that cannot do the job, “Promote them up”, works everytime.
*I’m guessing P-BO will end up nominating a woman somewhat left of Stevens; In that case, the Senate GOP needs to “Bork” her, and ask that he nominate a more centrist candidate; They need to stand their ground on this, and not go RINO ala McCain/Grahamnesty!
The constitution only works when it benefits the ruling class; otherwise, it is meaning less. Commerce clause case in point.