SCOTUS Brief 2/25/2016
Sandoval Takes Himself Out of SCOTUS Consideration – NRO’s Geraghty: Why Sri Srinivasan Might Not Be So Centrist After All – New JCN video: To confirm or not to confirm: Democrats vs. Joe Biden – Alito: Court Will Find a Way to Do Its Work with 8 Justices
- A day after the White House leaked it was vetting him, Republican Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval takes himself out of consideration for a Supreme Court nomination.
@RalstonReports: Breaking: Sandoval takes himself out of consideration for SCOTUS.
“Earlier today, I notified the White House that I do not wish to be considered at this time for possible nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. I have also spoken to Senators Reid, Heller and McConnell and expressed the same desire to them.” – NV Gov. Brian Sandoval
- National Review’s Jim Geraghty writes that federal judge Sri Srinivasan might not be as “moderate” as President Obama’s supporters say.
National Review: Why Sri Srinivasan Might Not Be So Centrist or Moderate After All
“So far, his record as a judge on the D.C. Circuit has been somewhat to the left of Ruth Bader Ginsburg back when she sat on the same Circuit. She became more liberal once elevated to the Supreme Court, where she faced no chance of reversal…Ironically, the supposedly liberal judges who were put on the D.C. Circuit after him – to pack the D.C. Circuit after the filibuster was curbed – have proven more willing to question government regulations than he is.”
- The Judicial Crisis Network released a new video contrasting what Democrats are saying now about confirming a new Supreme Court Justice in an election year with what Joe Biden said when he was Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
WATCH: To confirm or not to confirm: Democrats vs. Joe Biden
- The Associated Press’ Mark Sherman writes that Justice Samuel Alito says the Supreme Court will continue to function with 8 Justices.
AP: Alito: Court Will Find A Way To Do Its Work With 8 Justices
“Sounding like he is prepared for a lengthy vacancy on the Supreme Court bench, Justice Samuel Alito said Tuesday that the court will find a way to get its work done with eight members following the death of Antonin Scalia. ‘We will deal with it,’ Alito told a Georgetown University law school audience Tuesday after he was asked a question about Senate Republicans’ resolve to oppose anyone President Barack Obama nominates to take Scalia’s place. The court has functioned with an even number of justices before, Alito said, noting that the Constitution does not set the court’s size. The court initially was made up of six justices, before it eventually grew to nine. During the Civil War, Congress added a 10th seat.”
- Constitutional Law Professor Josh Blackman and CATO Institute Senior Fellow Ilya Shapiro document the 15 instances in history when the Supreme Court functioned with 8 Justices in today’s Wall Street Journal.
Blackman & Shapiro in WSJ: Only Eight Justices? So What
“Justice Antonin Scalia’s death leaves the Supreme Court in a tough spot, but it is one for which the institution is prepared. Due to death, retirement or resignation—or recusal in individual cases—the high court has often been short-handed. Since World War II there have been 15 periods when the court had eight justices, and each time the court managed its docket without a hitch. Even in the rare cases when eight justices split evenly, 25 times the court affirmed the lower-court judgment without opinion (or precedential value) and 54 times the court set the case for reargument… In other words, rather than making the judicial system grind to a halt, a Supreme Court vacancy merely delays rulings in a small number of cases. A study of the past 60 years of eight-justice rosters reveals that today’s Roberts court can easily handle the current vacancy, however long it lasts.”
