Posted on 05/26/2012 2:08:35 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Paul Clement, who served as U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush and is now a lawyer in private practice, is the favorite of many conservatives. Clement argued last month for the Supreme Court to strike down Obama's 2010 healthcare law, and he is defending laws that ban same-sex marriage and that target illegal immigrants.
Clement, 45, would be "at the top of any short list right now," said Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, a group that advocates for conservative nominees.
Asked about Clement, Mary Ann Glendon, a co-chairwoman of Romney's Justice Advisory Committee, voiced "unbounded admiration" for him.
"He's the type of person who fits the mold that the governor has pledged to look for," Glendon said, adding that "it's much too soon to speculate about names."
Mentioned as often as Clement is Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Kavanaugh, 47, sits on a court that produced four sitting justices. He has deep roots in Washington, D.C., having worked in the Bush White House and assisted in the 1990s investigation that nearly led to President Bill Clinton's ouster.
Kavanaugh is known for elaborate opinions such as a 65-page dissent he wrote in November exploring how an 1867 tax law barred courts from considering Obama's healthcare law until 2015.
A third possibility, Judge Diane Sykes, is often mentioned as a likely Romney nominee if the next person to leave the Supreme Court is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court's senior woman justice. Ginsburg has survived cancer twice.
Sykes, 54, was appointed to a Chicago-based U.S. appeals court in 2004, overcoming Democratic criticism of her record in abortion-related cases.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Wisconsin native Paul Clement tops the list every time. There are a handful of very smart conservatives who are on the short list.
1) Kinda getting ahead of ourselves here. He’s not even officially the nominee and now he’s making SCOTUS appointments?
2) It’s doubtful the other two liberal justices are retiring soon and almost certainly won’t while there is a Republican in the White House, even a RINO, knowing how close they are now to an ideological split.
3) None of the conservative justices are particularly old or in ill health. I don’t see any of them dying or stepping down before 2017.
4) Whenever Justice Kennedy decides to step down, all hell will break loose. I pity whoever the president is at that time (but pray it is a conservative) because the libs will DEMAND a liberal be put in his place.
I’m no Romney lover but Freepers who threaten to stay home because there’s no difference between Romney and Obama would do well to remember that a Romney presidency gives us potential SCotUS justices like Kavanaugh and Clement while Obama will give us more Kagans and Sotomeyers.
If Clement is nominated, the libs and media will say he shouldn’t serve since he argued the Obamacare case. They will claim that shows him as too partisan. Seriously - they will make that argument with a straight face.
“Whenever Justice Kennedy decides to step down, all hell will break loose. I pity whoever the president is at that time (but pray it is a conservative) because the libs will DEMAND a liberal be put in his place.”
That’s why we need to concentrate on the down-ballot races, to assure enough Senators to prevent a worst-case senario.
I'd want a word put in for Eugene Volokh, legal scholar who's foursquare RKBA, ever since it was still unfashionable and career-disadvantageous to be RKBA-friendly (a palm to lefty-law dean Laurence Tribe on that, he joined Volokh and others in finding 2A a stong individual right).
Don't kid yourself. Given some of the ages of the justices, anything could happen.
Scalia is in his late 70s and, while he seems healthy at that age, you never know when someone could take a quick turn for the worst. Kennedy is the same age and, while he's obviously the court's "moderate," why wouldn't we want to at least have a chance to replace him with a conservative.
Furthermore, Ginsburg is even older and there's a good chance the next president will replace her on the court, giving us a chance to solidify a true conservative majority.
Conversely, if Scalia and Kennedy leave the court, for whatever reason, we could easily end up with a hard left majority there for 20-30 years. That alone is a reason to vote for Romney, rather than risk four more years of Obama appointees.
Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg is 79 and a cancer survivor. I just don’t see her stepping down if she didn’t while Obama was in office. If she steps down this summer, you can image it will become a campaign issue and the Senate may not vote on it until after Election Day (why would a Dem up for re-election want to tie himself to the viewpoint of a radical left Obama nominee?).
Scalia is 76. Kennedy is 75. Breyer is 73. It should be noted that SCOTUS justices have excellent health care and routinely live well into their 80s.
As president, Mitt will nominate judges in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito.
That's encouraging. Let's hope he follows through.
Sandy O'Connor was 76, and Fun Boy Souter 67 when he moved to Fire Island. However, the loathsome J.P. Stevens overstayed his welcome until he was 90.
Hmm, Justice Scalia just turned 78, Justice Kennedy will turn 78 later this year, Justice Breyer will be 76 in August, and Justice Ginsburg is 81.
The next few years will be crucial. They will probably set the direction of the court for the next 100 years. And I’m pretty sure that if Obambi is reelected, his next appointee will be a muslim.
The Mitt-Haters will be here soon enough to tell us all that there is no reason to expect Romney’s appointments to be better than Obama’s.
If Obama is defeated, than the DemocRATS will react based as much on who retires as who is nominated. If Scalia retires, than a Republican President would have mostly free reign and DemocRATS won’t put up a huge fight. The other possible vacanacies will be a very different story.
It’s interesting that Anthony Kennedy is one of the most powerful people in the country.
I don’t know where you got those ages but Wikipedia lists DOB for Scalia as 3/11/36, making him 76, Kennedy as 7/23/36 which makes him 76 in a few months. Ginsburg’s DOB is 3/15/33 (beware the Ides of March) which means she is 79 and Breyer’s is 8/15/38 so he is 73 and will be 74 at the end of the summer.
Sometimes justices will step down when the president is a philosophical soulmate so he can replace them with somebody similar but it doesn’t happen all that much. I think it is very likely there will be no new justices during the next presidential term.
We’re not getting ahead of ourselves.
Looking toward Supreme Court appointees is among the most important reasons to support Romney.
I’m glad he is considering solid conservatives and I have total faith that he will make excellent appointments.
And, by the way, Romney IS the nominee if one lives in the known universe.
Excellent list.
Not sure I agree.
SP judges do live a long time. They have secure jobs and not too much to do.
However, four years is a long time when one gets into one’s 80’s. I think the liberal judges will hang in if they can during Romney’s presidency, but maybe they can’t.
Anyway, if Romney does a decent job and the economy turns around, he’ll probably get 8 years. That will give him almost a hundred percent chance of nominating several judges.
I think you revealed the answer without realizing it. ;->
“Excellent list.”
True, and that’s the short list. There are others who haven’t been ruled out yet.
But you're singing his praises on FRee Republic.
You weren't posting that garbage six months ago, were you?
Besides, your argument fails. If the GOP gets a majority of the Senate, we ride it out and go forward with a Supreme Court of eight or seven justices, if need be, to fight off Barky's Communist jurists.
You think you'll know what sort of judges Romney will nominate. Well, guess what? He'll be thinking about his own fame, his own legacy -- not your ideas about whom to nominate.
My own guess is, he'll nominate Souters so we can institutionalize a "gay seat" on the Supreme Court, just like there is now a "black seat" and a "wise Latina seat" and a "Communist lesbian" seats and a "Jewish seat" -- oh, wait, make that two "Jewish seats".
From the Romney website:
The Chairpersons of the Advisory Committee – Judge Robert Bork, Professor Mary Ann Glendon, and Richard Wiley. . . .
Members Of Mitt Romney’s Justice Advisory Committee:
•Alex Acosta •William Allen •Alex Azar •H. Christopher Bartolomucci •Lizette Benedi Herraiz •Bradford A. Berenson •Elliot S. Berke •Brant Bishop •Michelle Boardman •J. Caleb Boggs III •Robert Bork •Steven Bradbury •Lee A. Casey •Michael Chertoff •Jeffrey Clark •Gus Coldebella •Roderick De Arment •George Dent •Michael R. Dimino •Thomas Dupree •Charles Eskridge •Allen Ferrell •Timothy Flanigan •Sergio J. Galvis •Deborah A. Garza •Tom Gede •Mary Ann Glendon •Alan Gura •Jimmy Gurulé •Catherine Hanaway •Jennifer Hardy •W. Thomas Haynes •Jay Jorgensen •Jay Kanzler •Roy Katzovicz •Richard Klingler •Christopher Landau •Stephen Larson •Katie Lev •Wendy Long •Fred Lowell •Raymond B. Ludwiszewski •Maureen Mahoney •Roman Martinez •Gary McDowell •Brent McIntosh •Grant S. Nelson •Mark Nielsen •Howard C. Nielson, Jr. •Robert O’Brien •Kevin O’Connor •John O’Quinn •Elizabeth Papez •Matthew Papez •Nels Peterson •Thomas Phillips •Stephen Presser •David Rivkin, Jr. •Jeffrey Rosen •Gene Schaerr •Jay Stephens •John Sullivan •Richard Wiley
Uh, I don’t hate anyone.
But past performance is known to be a very accurate indicator of future behavior in office.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney chose very liberal candidates for that State’s Supreme Court. He now says he had no choice in the matter.
Yeah, sure.
I suspect that Governor Romney didn’t quibblle or put up much of a struggle on the issue, being more intent to get along and be accepted.
We Republicans don’t need a doormat as president.
I’ve got junk knees. I can’t get down there for Romney anyway.
I'd hardly call pointing out the irrefutably obvious singing Romney's praises.
Like most Freepers, Romney was my fifth choice, but he's who we ended up with, and for the first four years, at least, we can hold his feet to the fire.
We're not going to be able to hold up a SCOTUS nomination for 3 years, so The One will be able to put whatever commie/muzzy he wants to.
Per the "gay seat", you're forgetting Elena Kagan, are you not?
No, I'm pointing out there is a decent chance he'll be better than Obama on judicial appointments
You weren't posting that garbage six months ago, were you?
Actually, when everyone here was swooning over Newt I was telling them to get behind Santorum before it was too late. Looks like I was right on that one. FR waited until it was too late.
Besides, your argument fails. If the GOP gets a majority of the Senate, we ride it out and go forward with a Supreme Court of eight or seven justices, if need be, to fight off Barky's Communist jurists.
What color is the sky in your world? The Senate will never stand up to Obama like that. Too many of "our" guys are willing to compromise to avoid the bad PR that would ensue. Remember, we had a Republican Senate and a Republican president and we still got the "Gang of 14" compromise in 2005.
You think you'll know what sort of judges Romney will nominate. Well, guess what? He'll be thinking about his own fame, his own legacy -- not your ideas about whom to nominate. My own guess is....
Now who doesn't know?
...My own guess is, he'll nominate Souters so we can institutionalize a "gay seat"
Obama already gave us the gay seat with Kagan. Therefore, your assumption is flawed.
The bottom line is this: I may not know what sort of judges Romney will nominate but damn sure know what sort Obama will nominate.
I'd rather take a chance on Romney having to replace Scalia, Kennedy or Ginsburg than letting Obama do it.
“...interesting that Anthony Kennedy is one of the most powerful people in the country.”
And he wasn’t even Reagan’s first choice for that seat. He came in on the heels of another Ginsburg’s ‘scandal’ that wouldn’t be a ‘scandal’ today.
Please get Ginsburg an iron lung and pay for a 24/7 doctor, just to be sure that she makes it until next January 21.
On the other hand, if Obama is reelected, the next five words should send chills down your spine: Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder.
“On the other hand, if Obama is reelected, the next five words should send chills down your spine: Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder.”
That sounds like the tag line to a horror movie.
Romney's picked a solid-gold co-chair in Glendon, who had the character to tell Notre Dame where to stick its Laetare Medal if it didn't disinvite Pres. Pro-Abort as commencement speaker.
He will try to appoint Mormons.
It is un-Constitutional that Anthony Kennedy is one of the most powerful people in the country.
Romney is happily locked into his opposition to same-sex marriage——which rocketed his numbers into the stratosphere (when Ohaha stupidly supported it).
So Romney’s USSC nominees MUST reflect that stance.
Fortunately for us, that usually means the nominee is pro-life, as well.
Well that would be a breath of fresh air. Very conservative voting block, probably the most socially conservative voting block there is.
Romney Rewards one of the State's Leading Anti-Marriage Attorneys by Making him a Judge
Romney told the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2004, that the "real threat to the States is not the
constitutional amendment process, in which the states participate,
but activist judges who disregard the law and redefine marriage . . ."
Romney sounds tough but yet he had no qualms advancing the legal career of one
of the leading anti-marriage attorneys. He nominated Stephen Abany to a District Court.
Abany has been a key player in the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association which,
in its own words, is "dedicated to ensuring that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision
on marriage equality is upheld, and that any anti-gay amendment or legislation is defeated."
- U.S. Senate testimony by Gov. Mitt Romney, 6/22/2004 P>
"Romney announces he won't fill judicial vacancies before term ends
Despite his rhetoric about judicial activism, Romney announced that
he won't fill all the remaining vacancies during his term - but instead
leave them for his liberal Democrat successor!
Governor Mitt Romney pledged yesterday not to make a flurry of lame-duck
judicial appointments in the final days of his administration . . . David Yas,
editor of Lawyers Weekly, said Romney is "bucking tradition" by resisting the urge to
fill all remaining judgeships. "It is a tradition for governors to use that power to appoint judges
aggressively in the waning moments of their administration," Yas said.
He added that Romney has been criticized for failing to make judicial appointments.
"The legal community has consistently criticized him for not filling open seats quickly enough
and being a little too painstaking in the process and being dismissive of the input of the
Judicial Nominating Commission," Yas said.
- Boston Globe 11/2/2006
“The Massachusetts Republican Party died last Tuesday.
The cause of death: failed leadership.
The party is survived by a few leftover legislators
and a handful of county officials and grassroots activists
who have been ignored for years.
Services will be public and a mass exodus of taxpayers will follow.
In lieu of flowers, send messages to Republican voters
warning them about a certain presidential candidate named Romney.”
- Boston Herald, 11/12/2006
"In 2006, while Romney was chairman of the National Republican
Governors Association - a group dedicated to electing more
Republican governors - his own hand-picked Republican successor
as governor lost badly to the Democrat, despite the fact that Republicans
have held the governorship in Massachusetts since 1990. Romney largely
ignored the Massachusetts elections and spent most of the time
during the campaign out of state building his presidential campaign.
He came back and publicly campaigned for the Republican candidate
the day before the general election!
“Locally, this is a rebuke to Mitt Romney and checking out within six months
after being elected and having accomplished almost nothing,”
[Jim] Rappaport [former chairman of the state Republican Party]."
- Boston Globe, 11/8/2006
Oh noes! He might actually choose conservative judges. What will that do to the ‘he’s worse than Obama’ narrative raging in conservative internet discussions?
Yeah, sure.
Have you actually investigated the process by which judges are appointed in MA?
This is getting way ahead of yourself.
USSC is ripe for some replacements, and I’d rather have Romney’s replacements than 0’s; but, I won’t be expecting any hardcore strict-constructionists from Romney, they’ll be like GHWB or Nixon/Ford selections.
One way to bypass the Mitt gag factor is to ask yourself-—who would you rather have as FL-—a stay at home mom who raised five kids-—or snarling vacation-obsessed Michelle?
“He will try to appoint Mormons.”
There aren’t that many Mormon Federal judges. In any event, if he nominates a Mormon who believes in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, than I have no problem with it.
RE: Mentioned as often as Clement is Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
______________________
He was A protege of Judge Kenneth Starr.
Kavanaugh played a lead role in drafting the Starr report, which urged the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Kavanaugh also led the investigation into the suicide of Clinton aide Vincent Foster. After the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, in which Kavanaugh worked for the George W. Bush campaign in the Florida recount, Kavanaugh joined Bush’s staff, where he led the Administration’s effort to identify and confirm conservative judicial nominees.
Kavanaugh himself was nominated to the D.C. Appeals Court by Bush in 2003. His confirmation hearings were contentious and stalled for three years over charges of partisanship.
Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed in May 2006 after a series of negotiations between Democratic and Republican Senators.
You need to stop pinging me to threads about Romney. I’m off the plantation and won’t be back.
The gag factor also goes away when one thinks of our soldiers having to salute Obama for just one more day.
After all, the job we are talking about is Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces.
Bad OR good, depending on the exact intrigue.
A few months ago there was a lot of talk about how Mitt Romney, in order to keep his Mormon godhood, has to keep on taking directions from Mormon prophets.
We all agreed it was horrible, and then went on to different topics without developing the full implications.
Anyhow if we get Harry Reid style Mormons, maybe that’s something that Mitt’s personal prophet would want — that would be bad!
RE: A third possibility, Judge Diane Sykes, is often mentioned as a likely Romney nominee if the next person to leave the Supreme Court is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court’s senior woman justice
_______________________
The following things I know of Diane Sykes...
Sykes was married to conservative radio talk show host Charlie Sykes of WTMJ in Milwaukee, but they are now divorced. Sykes has two children from that marriage.
Sykes is a member of the Federalist Society.
Like the list but not a real warm Romney fan. He needs to get out of the middle of the road.
If Romney could get elected, remains to be seen, how do we get any justices to retire ... maybe throwing banana peels around the court would help.
OK, what about Michigan pings?
Seriously? Romney's wife can't change the fact that women in MA are getting cheap abortions thanks to him, or that he recently said people of the "same gender" who "love" each other should be able to adopt children.
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