White House Prepares for Possibility of 2 Supreme Court Vacancies (Stevens and Ginsburg)

White House Prepares for Possibility of 2 Supreme Court Vacancies
SCOTUS Watchers Believe Justices Stevens and Ginsburg Could Decide to Step Aside

By ARIANE de VOGUE
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2010—

Lawyers for President Obama have been working behind the scenes to prepare for the possibility of one, and maybe two Supreme Court vacancies this spring.

Court watchers believe two of the more liberal members of the court, justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, could decide to step aside for reasons of age and health. That would give the president his second and third chance to shape his legacy on the Supreme Court.

Last week, when Obama took the nearly unprecedented step of criticizing the court's opinion in a major campaign finance case during his State of the Union speech, some believed he was showcasing for the American people that presidential elections, and Supreme Court nominations count.

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Vacancies Could Spark Political Fire

It is widely believed that Justice Stevens, 89, sent a strong signal of his intention to retire when he confirmed for The Associated Press last fall that he wasn't going to hire a full complement of clerks for next term. The justice has been coy with the press, telling USA Today's Joan Biskupic that he was surprised by the media frenzy regarding his potential retirement.

"That can't be news" he said, declining to reveal his plans. "I'm not exactly a kid."

Justice Ginsburg, 76, announced a year ago that she had undergone surgery for early stage pancreatic cancer.

Sources close to Ginsburg dismissed retirement speculation, pointing out that she has been a lively and active participant in oral arguments this term and has on several occasions expressed an interest in serving for more years to come.

In a September press release from the court, Ginsburg revealed that she had had a "comprehensive assessment of health" last summer and that she was in "completely normal health with the exception of a low red blood cell count caused by deficiency of iron."

If one or both of the justices retire, the administration would have to calculate whether it could nominate candidates who could deliver votes as consistently liberal on major ideological issues as Stevens and Ginsburg do in an age of increasingly political confirmation wars.

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http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Supreme_Court/white-house-prepares-possibility-supreme-court-vacancies/story?id=9740077

Scalia 73
Thomas 62
Kennedy 73
Roberts 55 health ?s
Alito 59 stuck w/ this turd for a long time

real liberals need not apply.

The best that will happen is another center-reich "moderate" like Sotomoyer. In the entire history of the Court, there has never been any Justice as far to the left as the five cretins you list are to the right.

It's a wonder that the courts have ever made a "good" decision.

Dream on with Roberts ... Bushco left a LOT of long terms FUs to this country, and Roberts is tops ont that list. I am going to be 44 in a week, and I just HOPE to see a different Chief Justice ...

Thomas is going NOWHERE, what else is that clown going to do with his life ... Scalia will NOT willingly step down with a dem president. He will have to pretty much die to not step down under an R president ...

Kennedy is the guy, and it will be a literally holy war, most likely anarchy from the right if he leaves or his health forces him out under a D.

But, as someone else noted, with the health care these people get, they will have the 95% machine like Darth Vader and rolled into chambers at the age of 110 if possible ...

..... favor @ least one of the nasty 5 will be gone because of health reasons or death if Obama
gets 2 terms.

My money for the next to go is Scalia

right ...

I mean, with today's "liberal media" taking its talking points from Drudge, any left-center candidate would be labeled as "extremist activist loony lefties" ...

and the true "judicial activists" will be remaining on the SCOTUS ... and the medical care they receive these days will ensure that they would remain in power even if they were in a less cognitive state than Terri Schiavo ...

...to the corporate right and away from democracy - or will he use this opportunity to help the country reach its potential?

Was a great pick and both Gingsburg and Stevens would likely be replaced
by a "good judge" picked by the Constitutional Law Prof., B. Obama. Real change
on the court will be seen only when Scaila, Kennedy, and Thomas go ...... and
they will ...... and if Obama is still in office. Obama is also making good picks
for the Federal Bench now but we have tons of turd buckets that were installed
by Reagan, H.W., and W that might as well be called Pro Republican Federal Judges.

If Obama gets 8 years then the SCOTUS will get a lot better.

to be voted on, in today's atmosphere? The term thrown around during Bush43's years, "nuclear", would be like a Snap-n-Pop (small thing that makes a noise, not really much of an explosive) in comparison ...

Any "moderate" submitted by Obama these days would be portrayed by "the liberal media" as a psychotic radical lefty activist ...

(If we want Justices at least no more conservative than those who might retire)

I vote that the Federalist Society be banned.

He is getting up there. Of course, I wold love to see Scalia retire.

will control the US Senate.