now what?
RIP
So little o gets to appoint three.
Maybe not. The nomination and confirmation process can take a very long time.
Does McConnell have the courage to drag this out until the end of the year? Probably not, but one can always hope.
Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 13, 2016
White House immediately looking for a liberal half-Hispanic, half-Black, trans DREAMER for nomination to SCOTUS.
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak) February 13, 2016
"Maybe Trump can get elected and appoint his sister after all :-)"
Maybe the very thought of a President Trump doing just that or worse, will help his duped followers WTFU!
Donald Trump, on nominating his pro-abortion sister, and criticizing Justice Scalia. https://t.co/VF1I2AYH6R pic.twitter.com/I58dmI45bz
— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) February 13, 2016
election '16 suddenly way more serious, as if it wasn't before. .
From The Washington Times:
"Mitch McConnell rules out replacing Antonin Scalia until new president is elected
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times, Saturday, February 13, 2016
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday that the Senate should wait until a new president is elected to confirm a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, whose sudden death Saturday shook Washington and threatened to reshape the 2016 presidential race."
"Recess appointments
When the Senate is in recess, a president may make temporary appointments to fill vacancies. Recess appointees hold office only until the end of the next Senate session (less than two years). The Senate must confirm the nominee for them to continue serving; of the two chief justices and six associate justices who have received recess appointments, only Chief Justice John Rutledge was not subsequently confirmed.
No president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has made a recess appointment to the Court, and the practice has become rare and controversial even in lower federal courts.[75] In 1960, after Eisenhower had made three such appointments, the Senate passed a "sense of the Senate" resolution that recess appointments to the Court should only be made in "unusual circumstances."[76] Such resolutions are not legally binding but are an expression of Congress's views in the hope of guiding executive action."
""The President can and should send the Senate a nominee right away. With so many important issues pending before the Supreme Court, the Senate has a responsibility to fill vacancies as soon as possible. It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court to go a year with a vacant seat. Failing to fill this vacancy would be a shameful abdication of one of the Senate's most essential Constitutional responsibilities."
yep, hurry up! replace him before the funeral! nobody will even be looking!
Obama tried to make recess appointment to the NLRB a few years ago when he claimed the Senate was in recess The Senate took him to court and SCOTUS ruled unanimously that his appointment was unconstitutional.
As I recall, the attorney who led that case against Obama was some guy from Texas named Ted Cruz.
Obama tried to make recess appointment to the NLRB a few years ago when he claimed the Senate was in recess The Senate took him to court and SCOTUS ruled unanimously that his appointment was unconstitutional.
As I recall, one of the key attorneys in that case against Obama was some guy from Texas named Ted Cruz.
The Heller case only succeeded by ONE vote. That's gone now. Obama will get his appointment for Scalia and then another 2A case will be brought and this time I can guaran-damn-tee you that they will NOT uphold the individual right to keep and bear arms.
And then the next civil war will begin.
Molon labe, MF'ers, molon labe....
ohhhhhhhhh, now that ol' rag has some purpose!(?)
Hopefully the Senate will hold tight, but I won't hold my breath....
But that's a lot of "if's".
This is serious trouble that will affect your children and grandchildren and could put them behind the eight ball for their entire life.
America has been able to withstand all the problems plaguing this nation.
This will be the final death knell if we do not win this election. I am seriously concerned about America's future as never before. All the money in the world will not be able to save you or your family.
These debates are killing us no matter who your candidate may be and the Dems are loving it.
The Rock
God bless, Steve
And brunse....F'ing disater indeed. We're toast.
Pray unceasingly.
He was the deciding vote on the flag burning case. His comment was "If I were king, I would have thrown that bearded weirdo in jail. But there's this thing called the First Amendment..."
Scalia hated the philosopher-king role of pulling rights out of the air to justify decisions, which is the "living Constitution" theory of leftist judges. Things such as abortion and gay rights were the province of the legislature, political questions, not to be decided by courts and mandated into law.
He will be missed. Greatly.
Yourself and many others. Then again others do not have a clue about this very sad and frightful event and the consequences for all of us here, friend and foe alike.
idacurt,
An honor indeed. You will be forever be connected.
sundowner,
Amen. I pray daily to Him for the welfare of my family and the innocent children we have led down this path. I am confident that His lesson will be heard loud an clear one day in this nation who has turned to the golden calf.
The Rock
Read it and weep, Democrats. The shoe is on the other foot. David Bernstein at the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy blog:
Thanks to a VC commenter, I discovered that in August 1960, the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a resolution, S.RES. 334, “Expressing the sense of the Senate that the president should not make recess appointments to the Supreme Court, except to prevent or end a breakdown in the administration of the Court’s business.” Each of President Eisenhower’s SCOTUS appointments had initially been a recess appointment who was later confirmed by the Senate, and the Democrats were apparently concerned that Ike would try to fill any last-minute vacancy that might arise with a recess appointment.
The GOP opposed this, of course. Hypocrisy goes two ways. But the majority won.
As it should this time.
Hat tip: Instapundit
The senate MUST remained seated until and without recess until 1/21/17.
That traitor can only appoint if the senate is not in session I believe from what I have heard today.
The Rock
After all...how many deaths have been implied and connected to the Democrat front runner Hillary and the anti-Constitution positions and acts of the adminstration...and now, the sudden death of Scalia.
The Senate should have a complete investigation before any nomination for replacement is even addressed.
Another tin-foil-ish factor: note the location of the ranch WRT the Mexican non-border.
Ranch Owner Describes Scene Of Justice Scalia’s Death, Including ‘Pillow Over His Head’
Needless to say, this description will incite speculation.
MARFA — A first-time guest to the Cibolo Creek Creek Ranch, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was animated and engaged during dinner Friday night, as one of three dozen invitees to an event that had nothing to do with law or politics, according to the ranch owner.
Just hours later, he would be found dead of apparent natural causes, which media outlets reported on Sunday was a heart attack.
“He was seated near me and I had a chance to observe him. He was very entertaining. But about 9 p.m. he said, ‘it’s been a long day and a long week, I want to get some sleep,” recalled Houston businessman John Poindexter, who owns the 30,000-acre luxury ranch.
When Poindexter tried to awaken Scalia about 8:30 the next morning, the judge’s door was locked and he did not answer. Three hours later, Poindexter returned after an outing, with a friend of Scalia who had come from Washington with him.
“We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled,” said Poindexter.
Judge declared it a heart attack without looking at the body, but after talking with Scalia’s doctor. Scalia has already been embalmed.
"Constitution Dead"
It also makes me recall the lyrics of the old Warren Zevon song....
"Send lawyers, guns and money, the sh*t has hit the fan."
HA/KS's Link
McConnell Had Better Declare a Pro Forma Session of the Senate —Ace
If he doesn't, and Obama appoints a recess appointment to the Supreme Court, that will be the last time voters vote for this Failure Theater party.
Unless Obama Nominates a Textualist, No Nominee Should be Confirmed. Ramesh Ponnuru writes of Scalia's thoughts on the role of the judge.
By the way, I'm pushing the idea of "textualist" as a good word to describe a judicial philosophy. So many definitions are created by the left -- they talk about "original intent" or even "strict interpretations" of the Constitution.
Nonsense. The only division is between those who believe the Constitution's text constitutes the Constitution's text, and those who think the Constitution is actually made up of the words of the Constitution, plus current fashion and political claims popular with the current crop of lawyers.
Thus, the most important distinction is between Textualists and Non-Textualists -- or, if they prefer, "Super Textualists," because they're all so super.
I hope I am surprised.
I am confident they will delay the traitors nomination and run consecutive sessions if necessary.
The immediate problem is that congress is not in session this week. He can appoint this week if they do not return immediately.
We will see.
The Rock
“Well, I Will Be Supporting The Filibuster Because I Think Judge Alito, In Fact, Is Somebody Who Is Contrary To Core American Values, Not Just Liberal Values.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 1/29/06)
Share it widely...
The quote comes from none other that Obama--but then again, most of you could have guessed.
The Rock
HA/KS's Link
Interesting article at link.
Oh...how fast they change their tune...
You forgot McConnell.
Bad Karma, explain how this works.
bad karma's Link
Now, on at least one affirmative action case, Justice Kagan is recused because she worked on it when in the Obama administration. So, there will now only be 7 justices on that case, which could still make it a 4:3.
Justice Kennedy now is the difference between a 5:3 and a 4:4 decision.
It's not good. One rumor I read was that Obama may nominate AG Loretta Lynch for tactical reasons. First black lady, you just approved her, etc. I think she'd be an awful choice given what I've seen of her as AG. She's just about what I expected.
That would provide plenty of video for campaign ads.
Obama will nominate a lesser known anti-Constitution communist.
Justice Scalia Talks About His Possible Replacement
Here’s a flashback to July 2012, when Justice Scalia was on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace — who, truth be told, was kind of a jerk to the Justice. But it’s OK. Nino handled himself just fine. If you didn’t watch this the first time I posted it, treat yourself now.
If you go to 18:30, and watch for a minute, you’ll see a fun little discussion of Scalia’s pique at being criticized by Richard Posner in (I think) an unfair manner. It’s worth it, trust me.
But what really hits home is at 22:25, where we see Chris Wallace asking Scalia if he would time his retirement to coincide with a Republican administration. Scalia says he hasn’t decided. Wallace asks him if he wouldn’t prefer to be replaced by a Republican appointee, given what he says earlier in the interview about Republicans generally preferring originalists and textualists, while Democrats prefer Justices who like Roe v. Wade. Scalia then says:
I would not like to be replaced by someone who immediately sets about undoing everything that I’ve tried to do for 25 years, 26 years. Sure. But I shouldn’t have to tell you that, unless you think I’m a fool.
What a great man. The country will never be able to replace Justice Scalia — but we owe it to ourselves, and to him, to come as close as we can.
He leaves a big hole. He will be missed.
