SCOTUS Decisions
legaleagle and fiddletown correct me if I am mistaken but any 5-4 SCOTUS is a good one irrespective of whether or not you agree with the majority because it means that the matter was settled at the proper level. There will often be times when honest, honorable men (and women, of course) will disagree on something. In such a case
SOMEone must decide one way or the other. For all legal disputes at the national level SCOTUS exists to do that. 5-4 decisions or at worst 6-3 should be the norm. Any decision decided 7-2 or 8-1 should never have gotten that far. A unanimous SCOTUS decision is the legal equivalent of a slam dunk. Those should
NEVER get to SCOTUS and do so only because the Justices realize that the only way to end the squabbling is to rule on the matter.
For the record, Bush v Gore, the SCOTUS decision that allegedly gave GW the Presidency, was not a 5-4 ruling. The vote was 5-4 to
GRANT CERT. The actual decision was decided 7-2 meaning it should have never gotten to that level. If you want to get the full story on the 2000 election, I suggest you read Bill Sammon's excellent "At Any Cost".
RE:
everallm said:
Please read the actual appointment/approval process for a SC justice and then have a look at how various "shoo-in" left and right wing justices have gone their own sweet way and confounded their original supporters.
That may have been so in the past (althogh I suspect it was more that "conservative" AJ candidates went in a path not expected than "liberal" candidates) but these days, the left is (or to this observer appears to be) increasingly applying ideological litmus tests to such people. In the current political climate, I would expect any AJ's confirmed to be strongly and actively leftist. I would also expect the oldest current leftist AJs to announce their intent to retire soon after Barama is sworn in.
I would not be surprised if one or more of the true conservative AJs did not expire of sudden medical or accidental causes during the next 4 years. It would only take the untimely death of one conservative AJ to swing things to the left's favor. If it were CJ Robert's passing, then the left would have an enormous advantage since the CJ has a gread deal of power/influence in setting agendae for SCOTUS. And before everallm jumps in to accuse me of being a "chicken little" or of following Grandpa Vanderboegh's "advice"
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.
I would remind you that the left is famous for its "ends justify means" operational philosophy. Also there is an 11th beatitude that runs something like
Blessed is the man who expects the worst for to him life is full of pleasant surprises.
I would say "blessed is the man who expects
AND PREPARES FOR the worst".
Excuse me. Gotta get back to working on my list of stuff to stockpile when I see the storm brewing on the horizon. Lessee, hum, . . . .
Cyborg