SCOTUS Brief 2/19/2016
McConnell & Grassley: Voters Should Decide – Ayotte: “People of New Hampshire must have a say” – NYT 1987 Editorial: Democrats ’86 Senate Takeover Gives Them “Every Right to Resist” Bork Nomination
- McConnell and Grassley write in the Washington Post that Democrats shouldn’t rob voters of chance to replace Scalia.
McConnell & Grassley: Democrats shouldn’t rob voters of chance to replace Scalia
“We don’t think the American people should be robbed of this unique opportunity. Democrats beg to differ. They’d rather the Senate simply push through yet another lifetime appointment by a president on his way out the door. No one disputes the president’s authority to nominate a successor to Scalia, but as inconvenient as it may be for this president, Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution grants the Senate the power to provide, or as the case may be, withhold its consent.”
- Kelly Ayotte writes in Foster’s Daily Democrat that the people of New Hampshire must have a say in debate over Justice Scalia’s replacement.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte: Americans deserve a say on Supreme Court nomination
“I believe strongly that the people of New Hampshire must have a say in this extraordinarily important debate. With so much on the line for the future of our country, the Senate should not proceed with a confirmation process until the American people have spoken by electing a new president in November.”
- WSJ Columnist Peggy Noonan writes that President Obama would be wise to change his mind on naming a replacement for Justice Scalia.
Noonan: The Court, Like the Country, Needs Balance
“When the balance of the court tips too much one way, it invites people to see injustice and bully politics. It invites unease and protest…What to do? The closest you can come to public peace in resolving the question of Scalia’s replacement is to take a step wholly unusual, even unprecedented, and let the American people make the decision themselves, this year, with their 2016 presidential vote… Either way half the country will be half happy, half unhappy, but the country will have chosen.”
- New York Times editorial board in 1987 on the Bork nomination:
1987 New York Times Editorial: Against Robert Bork; His Bill of Rights Is Different
“The President’s supporters insist vehemently that, having won the 1984 election, he has every right to try to change the Court’s direction. Yes, but the Democrats won the 1986 election, regaining control of the Senate, and they have every right to resist.”
