SCOTUS Brief 5/6/2016
Weekly Standard: Confirming Garland would “surely cost the Republicans the Senate” – Jenny Beth Martin in the Washington Times: The Left hits the panic button on the Garland nomination – Former Ohio Sec. of State Ken Blackwell: No Premature Surrender in Battle for Supreme Court
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- Weekly Standard Executive Editor Terry Eastland writes that if GOP Senators confirm Garland as some are suggesting it would “surely cost the Republicans the Senate.”
Weekly Standard: Striking Out
“Through April, Garland had met with 14 Republican senators, including Kirk and Collins. The pair are still the only GOP senators who favor hearings. Indeed, the remaining 52—including those who met with Garland but are not named Kirk or Collins—oppose either hearings during the balance of this election season or the nomination on its merits. Or both…The last thing Senate Republicans should want to do now is repudiate their position against hearings and instead take up the nomination and confirm Garland. That suggestion came last week from a writer at Red State, who thinks it would be better to put Garland on the Court than risk getting a more liberal justice from Hillary Clinton, who will be our next president, the writer declares, because Donald Trump has “absolutely no chance” of winning. Acting on that advice would aggravate the party’s conservative base and surely cost the Republicans the Senate.”
- Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin writes in the Washington Times that despite an extensive campaign for Garland’s nomination, the Left is losing.
Jenny Beth Martin: The Left hits the panic button
“While the Left has argued that the Senate must act immediately to confirm Merrick Garland, President Obama’s liberal pick for the Supreme Court, conservatives have consistently countered that there is no need to rush the confirmation process during an election year. After all, Supreme Court justices serve lifetime appointments, and Americans are opposed to shifting the balance in a more liberal direction. According to a CNN/ORC poll, fully 66 percent of Americans want the balance of the Supreme Court to remain as it is or move in a more conservative direction. Americans who are concerned about the make-up of the Supreme Court and want to protect it from a dramatic leftward lurch are taking action across the country…The Left is determined to make the battle for the Supreme Court a campaign issue in Senate races in 2016. But, in the same way that liberals have underestimated Senate Republicans’ resolve in this fight, they also underestimate how important the Supreme Court is to voters. The Left may be in for a rude awakening come November when voters will likely reward – not punish – Senate Republicans for taking this principled position and listening to their constituents.”
- Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell writes at CNS News that Republicans should not even think about prematurely surrendering on Garland’s confirmation.
Ken Blackwell: No Premature Surrender in Battle for Supreme Court
“Leon Wolf, the managing editor of RedState called for Republicans to immediately bring up a vote on Judge Merrick Garland. Wolf looked into his crystal ball and declared the November election over and said that nominees by President Clinton with a Democrat Senate will be worse than Garland and younger, so they will influence the Court longer. He doubled down on the argument in a CNN appearance as the media tried to give more oxygen to his arguments…The idea that we should declare the war over and let President Obama cement a liberal court right now is lunacy. The New York Times even said recently that the confirmation of Judge Garland would lead to the most liberal court in 50 years…It’s hard to see how we can take the chance of getting a worse nominee. Garland will no doubt have a profound influence on the Court and its interpretation of the Constitution for years, notwithstanding the argument that he is older than other potential nominees…The bottom line is that we do not yet know what will happen in November—if we’ve learned nothing else this election season it’s that we have no idea what will happen. Therefore, we cannot prematurely surrender today on President Obama’s choice to provide a steady and reliable vote to join Ginsberg, Kagan, Breyer and Sotomayor. Conservatives trying to defend our courts and our Constitution need to stand firm and battle this nomination with everything we have and prepare for whatever may – or may not – come in the months ahead.”
