HOLY SHIT
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/01/AR2005070100650_pf.htmlO'Connor to Retire From Supreme CourtBy GINA HOLLAND[/b]The Associated PressFriday, July 1, 2005; 10:45 AMWASHINGTON -- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and a key swing vote on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, said Friday she is retiring.O'Connor, 75, said she expects to leave before the start of the court's next term in October, or whenever the Senate confirms her successor. There was no immediate word from the White House on who might be nominated to replace O'Connor.It's been 11 years since the last opening on the court, one of the longest uninterrupted stretches in history. O'Connor's decision gives President Bush his first opportunity to appoint a justice."This is to inform you of my decision to retire from my position as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, effective upon the nomination and confirmation of my successor," she said in a one-paragraph letter to Bush. "It has been a great privilege indeed to have served as a member of the court for 24 terms. I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure."Bush planned to make a statement at 11:15 a.m. EDT in the White House Rose Garden on her resignation. Spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush would not at that time be announcing a nominee to succeed her.O'Connor's retirement came amid speculation that the aging court would soon have a vacancy. But speculation has most recently focused on Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, and suffering from thyroid cancer. Rehnquist has offered no public clue as to his plans.The White House has refused to comment on any possible nominees, or whether Bush would name a woman to succeed O'Connor. Her departure leaves Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the only other woman among the current justices.Possible replacements include Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and federal courts of appeals judges J. Michael Luttig, John Roberts, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Michael McConnell, Emilio Garza and James Harvie Wilkinson III. Others mentioned are former Solicitor General Theodore Olson, lawyer Miguel Estrada and former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, but Bush's pick could be a surprise choice not well known in legal circles.Another prospective candidate is Edith Hollan Jones, a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who was also considered for a Supreme Court vacancy by President Bush's father.O'Connor's appointment in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, quickly confirmed by the Senate, ended 191 years of male exclusivity on the high court.She wasted little time building a reputation as a hard-working moderate conservative who emerged as a crucial power broker on the nine-member court.O'Connor often lines up with the court's conservative bloc, as she did in 2000 when the court voted to stop Florida presidential ballot recounts sought by Al Gore, and effectively called the election for Bush.As a "swing voter," however, O'Connor sometimes votes with more liberal colleagues.Perhaps the best example of her influence is the court's evolving stance on abortion. She distanced herself both from her three most conservative colleagues, who say there is no constitutional underpinning for a right to abortion, and from more liberal justices for whom the right is a given.O'Connor initially balked at letting states outlaw most abortions, refusing in 1989 to join four other justices who were ready to reverse the landmark 1973 decision that said women have a constitutional right to abortion.Then in 1992, she helped forge and lead a five-justice majority that reaffirmed the core holding of the 1973 ruling. Subsequent appointments secured the abortion right. Commentators called O'Connor the nation's most powerful woman, but O'Connor poo-poohed the thought."I don't think it's accurate," she said in an Associated Press interview.O'Connor in late 1988 was diagnosed as having breast cancer, and she underwent a mastectomy. She missed just two weeks of work. That same year, she had her appendix removed.For years, O'Connor had an involuntary nodding of her head, but said she never had it diagnosed. The movement, while not constant, was an up-and-down motion similar to that made by someone nodding in the affirmative.O'Connor remained the court's only woman until 1993 when, much to O'Connor's delight and relief, President Bill Clinton appointed Ginsburg.The enormity of the reaction to O'Connor's appointment had surprised her. She received more than 60,000 letters in her first year, more than any one member in the court's history."I had no idea when I was appointed how much it would mean to many people around the country," she once said. "It affected them in a very personal way. People saw it as a signal that there are virtually unlimited opportunities for women. It's important to parents for their daughters, and to daughters for themselves."At times, the constant publicity was almost unbearable. "I had never expected or aspired to be a Supreme Court justice. My first year on the court made me long at times for obscurity," she once said.On the court, O'Connor generally favored states in disputes with the federal government and for enhanced police powers challenged as violative of asserted individual rights.In 1985, she wrote for the court as it ruled that the confession of a criminal suspect first warned about his rights may be used as trial evidence even if police violated a suspect's rights in obtaining an earlier confession.O'Connor wrote the 1989 decision that struck down as an unconstitutional form of affirmative action a minority set-aside program for construction projects in Richmond, Va.In 1991, she led the court as it ruled in its first-ever decision on rape-shield laws that states may under some circumstances bar evidence that a defendant and his alleged victim previously had consensual sex.O'Connor once described herself and her eight fellow justices as nine fire fighters."When (someone) lights a fire, we invariably are asked to attend to the blaze. We may arrive at the scene a few years later," she said.O'Connor was 51 when she joined the court to replace the retired Potter Stewart. A virtual unknown on the national scene until her appointment, she had served as an Arizona state judge, and before that as a member of her state's Legislature.A fourth-generation Arizonan, she had grown up on a sprawling family ranch.The woman who climbed higher in the legal profession than had any other member of her sex did not begin her career auspiciously. As a top-ranked graduate of Stanford's prestigious law school, class of 1952, O'Connor discovered that most large law firms did not hire women.One offered her a job as a secretary. Perhaps it was that early experience that shaped O'Connor's professional tenacity. She once recalled a comment by an Arizona colleague: "With Sandra O'Connor, there ain't no Miller time.""I think that's true," confessed the justice whose work week most often extended beyond 60 hours.But she played tennis and golf well, danced expertly with her husband, John, and made frequent appearances on the Washington party circuit.O'Connor was embarrassed in 1989 after conservative Republicans in Arizona used a letter she had sent to support their claim that the United States is a "Christian nation."The 1988 letter, which prompted some harsh criticism of O'Connor by legal scholars, cited three Supreme Court
rulings in which the nation's Christian heritage was discussed.O'Connor said she regretted the letter's use in a political debate. "It was not my intention to express a personal view on the subject of the inquiry," she said.O'Connor's name was linked in 1985 with that of Washington Redskins football star John Riggins when at a formal dinner he was heard to tell the justice sharing his table, "Loosen up, Sandy baby."Shortly thereafter, the women who participated with O'Connor at an 8 a.m. daily exercise class presented her with a tee-shirt that proclaimed: "Loosen up at the Supreme Court."The O'Connors have three sons, Scott, Brian and Jay.
rulings in which the nation's Christian heritage was discussed.O'Connor said she regretted the letter's use in a political debate. "It was not my intention to express a personal view on the subject of the inquiry," she said.O'Connor's name was linked in 1985 with that of Washington Redskins football star John Riggins when at a formal dinner he was heard to tell the justice sharing his table, "Loosen up, Sandy baby."Shortly thereafter, the women who participated with O'Connor at an 8 a.m. daily exercise class presented her with a tee-shirt that proclaimed: "Loosen up at the Supreme Court."The O'Connors have three sons, Scott, Brian and Jay.
Comments
OK. I am joining the raised fist massive on this one. I thought it was going to be Renquist, which would have been a straight up trade in votes. Now this. We could be quite fucked. Dems need to filibuster. GOP moderates need to stand up. Better angels need to prevail on W.
as if she wasn't bad enough.
we'll have one even worse
True, however, Bush Sr. wasn't quite as much of a bible thumper as his son, and is also highly intelligent.
But the thing is, O'Connor was an important justice because she could be moderate herself, and at times ended up being a cucial swing vote. I don't think they're going to risk it this time. We're kind of fucked.
Prediction: Roe V Wade overturned within 18 months.
I am not gonna hold my breath on that one. George sr was not nearly so beholden as his son to the far right Christian religious nuts.
Pandoras Box has been opened at long last. The Terry Shaivo bit will look like a dress rehearsal once they dig their fingernails into shit.
We are approaching the true tipping point, in which the old cliche - Things are gonna get worse before they get better - will take on a whole new meaning.
no chance bush nominates a moderate. N-O C-H-A-N-C-E. The only people still supporting him are deep red. Why would he risk alienating them?
Who will we have, Souter, Bader-Ginsberg & Breyer? Everyone else is pretty right, correct? What about Kennedy?
Next stop: Shinjuku Station...
I'm with you on this one.
But I agree with alien and birdman that the Souter option aint gonna happen.
can you say "nuculur option" boys and girls?
Word to Big Bird. I'm going to start getting ready to move! I'm going to Tokyo on the 15th for a couple of weeks. Wifey and I will be looking for apartments while we are there. I think I'll go to the Japanese consulate here in Seattle next week and get all the paperwork for my visa.
Sayonara folls.
you been watching a little too much futurama, you should try to pitch it to them for an episode
...and hold on to your hats. We're in for a WILD ride!
POTENTIAL NOMINEES
Judge Samuel Alito[/b]
The New Jersey native is a former U.S. attorney and lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department who was nominated by former President Bush to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1990. Some liberals have dubbed him "Scalito" or "Scalia lite" for his similarly conservative views. But unlike the often-feisty Scalia, Alito is known for a calm, polite presence on the bench. He was the lone dissenter in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, where the appeals court struck in 1991 down a Pennsylvania requirement that women inform their husbands before getting an abortion. The Supreme Court eventually upheld that ruling, preserving the spousal notification ban, and affirming Roe v. Wade.
Justice Janice Brown[/b]
Regarded as a judicial conservative and a rising star in GOP circles, Brown was confirmed by the Senate on June 8, 2005, for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Born in Alabama in 1949, Brown's father was a sharecropper, and she attended segregated schools before moving to Sacramento. She worked in the state attorney general's office, was Gov. Pete Wilson's legal affairs secretary, and later a state appeals judge. She became a California Supreme Court justice in 1996 after two nominations and both times a state judicial review ated her "not qualified" because she had "not yet attained sufficient experience to serve as [state] Supreme Court Justice." Her words and opinions are biting: in separate dissents, she referred to the majority justices as "philosopher kings" and "wimps," and once compared their legal conclusions to that of high school students. Such bluntness has attracted both admirers and detractors. One ruling outraged civil rights groups: her 2000 majority opinion affirming Proposition 209, which essentially banned race and gender preferences in state hiring and contracting. Some legal experts say her rulings are hard to categorize, ranging from conservative to liberal. She supported parental consent for minors seeking abortions, but also backed a state ban on assault weapons. Brown is a single mother, losing her husband to lung cancer in 1988. Her May 24, 2003, speech at the law school commencement at Washington's Catholic University revealed strongly held religious convictions. Democrats had blocked Brown's confirmation in the Senate for two years by threatening filibusters. Opponents were particularly critical of Brown's views on corporate liability and abortion rights.
Judge Frank Easterbrook[/b]
Easterbrook sits on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and teaches part-time at University of Chicago. In 1999 he wrote the majority opinion upholding a ban on a controversial late-term abortion procedure that opponents call partial-birth abortion, saying the laws do not place an undue burden on a women's right to privacy. A fellow conservative judge on the circuit, Richard Posner, himself a possible court candidate, led the minority view in the highly publicized case.
Judge Emilio Garza[/b]
Many court watchers believe Bush is likely to nominate a Hispanic as the next Supreme Court justice, particularly as Bush gears up for re-election with Hispanic outreach. If White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales is not nominated, then Garza could be the pick. Garza is a solid conservative known to strongly oppose Roe v. Wade. A former U.S. Marine captain, he was appointed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the president's father in 1991 and was a finalist for the Supreme Court seat that went to Clarence Thomas.
Alberto Gonzales[/b]
Until President Bush tapped him to replace for John Ashcroft as attorney general, Gonzales' name was the most frequently mentioned, not only for his close personal ties to Bush, but he would also be the first Hispanic justice. Whether he would still be considered for the court now that he is a top cabinet secretary is not clear. There are some fears among conservatives Gonzales is too moderate. But in defending White House legal policies, he impressed many influential Republicans. However, he faced widespread criticism of his handling of administration policy over Iraqi prisoners, and whether he endorsed torture or physical abuse as a proper interrogation and detention method. Gonzales became White House counsel in 2001 and he has a long history with the president, who named to the Texas Supreme Court in January 1999 when Bush was governor. Gonzales was raised by parents who only had an elementary school education. He served in the U.S. Air Force, and received his law degree from Harvard.
Judge Edith H. Jones[/b]
If Justice Sandra O'Connor retires and there is political pressure to appoint another woman to fill the seat, Jones is a possible candidate. She is considered a staunch conservative, especially on death penalty appeals. She was 36 years old when President Reagan nominated her to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1985. She also was a finalist in 1990 and 1991 for Supreme Court seats that eventually went to David Souter and Clarence Thomas, respectively. She has spoken out against what she calls a rapid decline in legal ethics. "The integrity of law, its religious roots, its transcendent quality are disappearing," she said in a February 28, 2003, speech at Harvard University.
Judge Alex Kozinski[/b]
A mainstream conservative, with libertarian views on free speech, Kozinski sits on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He emigrated from communist Romania when he was 12, became a federal district judge by 32, and a federal appeals judge by 35. He is considered a brilliant writer -- his court opinions provide a lively read -- candid, articulate, and has a sense of humor. His long paper trail and public candor on a variety of issues, however, could hurt in the confirmation process. He is one of the few federal judges who regularly give media interviews, even writing a recent online "diary" for Slate.com.
Judge J. Michael Luttig[/b]
A longtime favorite in the neo-conservative movement, Luttig is considered one of the strongest voices on the conservative 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Before his 1991 judicial nomination, Luttig headed the National Advisory Committee for Lawyers, and served in the administrations of President Reagan and the first President Bush. Luttig ha s ties to three of the justices: he clerked for Scalia when the justice was an appellate judge, and he advised Justices Clarence Thomas and David Souter during their confirmation hearings. Years later, those justices recused themselves from a highly controversial case with personal ties. Luttig's father, John, was murdered in 1994 during a botched carjacking outside his Texas home. The then-17-year-old killer Napoleon Beazley was executed in May 2002, after the remaining justices refused to intervene. The case divided the court and raised anew concerns over executing people under 18 years at the time of their crimes. Luttig is also known for his close ties to many leading conservatives and his desire for privacy. His only recent off-the-bench remarks came at the 2001 eulogy for Barbara Olson, the wife of Solicitor General Theodore Olson who was killed in the September 11, 2001, attacks. Another rare public appearance was a 1995 eulogy for his mentor and former boss, Chief Justice Warren Burger. One interesting recent ruling: In March, Luttig became the first federal appeals judge to declare that inmates have a constitutional right to test leftover evidence that might prove their innocence.
Judge Michael W. McConnell[/b]
The Senate confirmed McConnell to the Denver, Colorado-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November 2002 after Democrats delayed his nomination for more than a year. While he opposes prayer in public schools, McConnell has advocated shifting U.S. law away from a strict separation of church and state, critics say. He also has criticized the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling legalizing abortion in the United States. At the time of his confirmation hearings, McConnell nevertheless said the abortion law was settled. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1955, he graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1979 and clerked for Judge J. Skelly Wright of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan. From 1981-1983, he was assistant general counsel for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget before being named assistant to the solicitor general. In 1985, he left that position to become a professor at the University of Chicago. He joined the faculty at the University of Utah law school in 1997 and still teaches there part time. McConnell's relatively young age also may factor into a possible nomination if President Bush wants to leave a long judicial legacy.
Theodore Olson[/b]
Olson was the U.S. solicitor general for most of President Bush's first term. The solicitor general is the federal government's top lawyer before the Supreme Court. Olson himself argued many of the biggest cases before the justices, and he is considered a master of the freewheeling, give-and-take style of Supreme Court arguments. Olson has argued more than 40 cases at the court, including his representation of Bush before the Court during the 2000 Florida ballot recount. Democratic bitterness stemming from that may in itself stop any White House effort to nominate him, but his impressive resume stifled any talk of political payback during his confirmation hearings for solicitor general. Olson is one of the nation's top constitutional lawyers, and has long experience with conservative causes. He worked in the Reagan Justice Department, and later represented him during the Iran-Contra scandal. In private practice, his clients included Paula Jones, Whitewater figure David Hale and convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. His wife, Barbara, was killed in the hijacked plane that slammed into the Pentagon in the September 11, 2001 attacks. In July 2004, he left government to resume his private practice in appellate and constitutional law as a partner in the Washington law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
Judge John G. Roberts[/b]
Nominated by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Roberts joined the bench in June 2003 after Senate Democrats initially stalled his nomination. The appellate court in Washington is considered the most prestigious in the country, and several justices have moved from there to the U.S. Supreme Court, including Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Roberts has argued 33 cases before the high court. A Harvard Law School graduate, he clerked for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist. In 1982, Gordon served as associate White House counsel under President Reagan, leaving four years later to join the Washington-based law firm of Hogan & Hartson. He became deputy solicitor general in 1989 under President George H.W. Bush before returning to Hogan & Hartson in 1993. Gordon was born in 1955 in Buffalo, New York. Like McConnell, his relative youth may prove attractive to Bush if the president wants to leave a long judicial legacy.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson[/b]
A leader of the right-leaning 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Wilkinson was appointed in 1984 by President Reagan. He has written on a variety of subjects: the Supreme Court itself (which could come back to haunt him during nomination process) and integration. He would likely be given serious consideration to replace Rehnquist if Bush decides to choose someone outside the current justices. But the very mention of a Supreme Court nominee from the conservative 4th Circuit could be enough to stop the White House from even putting the name out. Considered courtly, a well-respected manager -- he was chief judge of the 4th circuit for some years - he has a consistent conservative background. The law journal Judicature rated Wilkinson as the most conservative of top replacement candidates in a recent case-by-case analysis. On the bench, he upheld several state restrictions over access to abortion. His age may be a drawback if Mr. Bush is looking for a justice who can stay longer and thereby have a potentially greater impact on the court's direction.
Great sense of literalism you got there Spanky...
"I'm here to uphold Roe v. Wade, esse!"
OK, seriously, we're pretty fucked.
Souter is less a political moderate than he is a bona fide legal thinker and I think that the Republicans have learned their lesson on that one--expect a partisan hack.
expect a partisan hack.[/b]
Can someone Photoshop this phrase into the national seal???
Ever since my wife started attending law school I'm fascinated by it, feeling as though I'm attending law school vicariously through her.
bush has already said that his model supreme court justice would be another anthony scalia or clarence thomas. if that happens, shit will be like red state blue state civil war as they try and take shit backwards 50 years. we all knew this could potentially happen, but do the dems have a plan? i'm scurred. i also think there are bigger things going on. bush will probably float someone like that butthole gonzalez and then the republicans can call the dems racist for not getting behind a hispanic judge and try and pick up more of the brown vote that way. they'll end up pushing through someone right of oconnor, but left of scalia and then bam, the fucking talkbox geezer will quit too and then we'll get the uber partisan hack. expect a dark horse that no one is even talking about and a shift of the court so far to the right that oh fuck i dont even want to think about it.