Good point. I only wish there was someone that could possibly be considered another centrist that would be nominated. Oh, wait…
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I’m a fan of the "platonic court’-- as described in A pattern analysis of the second Rehnquist U.S. Supreme Court
Omniscient Court. Under this idealization, each justice is omni- scient, and therefore each always makes the right decision. Further, because all the judges are equally god-like, each opinion will be unanimous and given by U (Eq. 2). Although court space is nine-dimensional, in this idealization, a 1D subspace suffices. (Justices are clones, and only one is needed.)
Platonic Court. Under this idealization, each justice is free of ideology and sees equally compelling arguments on both sides of each issue. From the point of view of an outside observer, the vote of a platonic justice is as predictable as the toss of a fair coin. Under this construct, all nine dimensions are necessary to specify decisions that are handed down, and all 256 possible decisions are equally likely.
The problem with “putting constitutional protections above politics” is that Madison designed the constitution so that the interests of all parties would play out in the political realm–"following the constitution’ would maximize conflict, and if a political compromise could not be made, then it would be up to the court to properly demarcate the limits of rights and powers.
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My vote would be on Judge John E Jones III as Thomas’s replacement.
The GWB appointee who killed Creationism in public schools and “intelligent design” stone cold dead and struck down Pennsylvania’s gay marriage ban one year before SCOTUS did so for the entire nation.
“The judiciary is a check against the unconstitutional abuse and extension of power by the other branches of government.”"
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First we need a Scalia replacement, then we can talk about replacing people who haven’t left.
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First Garland, as his name was already brought up as a nomination, so obviously he gets dibs. 
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“Watching Ellen,” is that what the kids are calling far right ‘consulting’ these days.
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[quote=“Max_Blancke, post:15, topic:80111”]judge that actually puts constitutional protections above politics.
[/quote]
Pretty sure we’ll see this first:
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With many republicans saying they’re sitting this election out because of Trump.
I bet he does not mean this in the least. He’s saying this to get republicans to vote against Hillary.
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Well, we’re still waiting on that Senate. Nominations mean nothing. Harriet Miers was nominated.
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i’ll take less conservative over 40 more years of just as conservative any election year.
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breyer has seemed at times to be angling for the anthony kennedy trophy for confusing swing voting. very often pro-business and definitely pro-establishment, he frequently seems to look for the spaces between kennedy and the rest of the liberal justices and then sets his opinions in that space…
yeah but my point is more that i’m all for calling things what they are. it seems to me that labeling today’s democratic establishment “liberal” just because it’s the ostensible opposite of the republicans is a bad habit that too many people fall into.
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in many ways the democratic establishment is more liberal than it’s been in 35-40 years. the fallout from the polarization of the mid to late 00s eliminated almost all of the most conservative democrats leading mostly to their replacement with republicans. the democrats who remain are probably the most liberal group since the post-watergate era.
Totally OT, but Dickinson College! I actually know someone who graduated from there. It’s about as far west in North Dakota as you can go before hitting Montana. Truly the middle of nowhere.
I think there’s something to be said for at least some percentage of Supreme Court Justices having lived and/or studied and/or worked somewhere other than the same handful of elite locations as everyone else. I just had a meeting this morning with someone who commented as the meeting was breaking up that they preferred working with Midwesterners (they’re from the South originally) because they know we say what we mean and mean what we say. We could use some more of that on the Supreme Court!
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I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in what goes on behind the gavel inside SCOTUS. Even though it only covers the Burger/Reinquist courts, it’s still relevant today.
I think most people would be really surprised to hear that many SC decisions are less partisan and ideological than thought and are sometimes based on internal maneuvering and ego.
It’s really an archaic process for something that has a huge impact on American’s daily lives.
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My thoughts as well. Nothing but a naked attempt to cast the vile pubic hair of rumor upon the delicious, refreshing, Coke-like candidacy of Hillary Clinton.
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I’m actually pretty secure in that everyone on the Supreme Court is a firm believer in what they say in their writings.
They just also happen to be lawyers, which means there’s a lot that they didn’t say because it wasn’t specifically relevant to this particular instance…
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“I’m out there busting my buns every night! Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes!”
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She probably doesn’t want him having extra freedom to sexually harass other women in his downtime.
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Of course you would be unduly “worried” about this when the judges are appointed by liberals.
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