Wisconsin Supreme Court justice dodges question over Scalia

In a post on SCOTUS Blog, a site that tracks the Supreme Court of the United States, Obama seemed to cast himself as a defender of the Constitution in seeking to name a replacement to the vacancy left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

For at stake is whether the Court will continue to be dominated by the 5-to-4 conservative bloc – of which Scalia was the harshest voice – or swing to a 5-to-4 liberal majority.

The letter says the committee “will not hold hearings on any Supreme Court nominee until after our next President is sworn in on January, 20, 2017”.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s bench chair and the bench in front of his seat draped in black after his death. They must have been more agreeable in those days.

The conservatives’ ostensible argument was that, this being a presidential election and the previous year of President Obama’s tenure, he should leave bringing the Court back to full strength to the next president.

After singling out McConnell, the ad’s narrator directs the focus to all Senate Republicans saying, “Working with our president to appoint a Supreme Court justice is your obligation under the Constitution”.

In fact, the GOP tactic isn’t new.

Republicans, however, argue that Democrats are trying to cut the electorate out of the decision-making process by forcing through a third justice for President Obama before the November election.

“Shut down the government?” “Filibuster every bill [Democrats propose] Sure!…”

When asked if reporters can then assume Obama will nominate a moderate, the president disagreed.

Obama’s first requirement for a candidate in the Supreme Court justice must be “eminently qualified”. Instead, he encouraged the Senate to “fulfill their constitutional duty”. The Times said the four liberal justices voted liberal 70 percent of the time and the four conservative justices voted conservative 60 percent of the time. However, the president said the choice wouldn’t be made strictly on legal grounds. It’s also one of the most important decisions that a president will make.