The death of conservative leader Justice Antonin Scalia is a game changer for a myriad of reasons this election year. The 5-4 conservative tilt of the Supreme Court has officially been shattered and a prime seat in our judicial branch of government is up for grabs for the first time in a generation.
Scalia’s death is a nightmare legal scenario for conservative lawmakers.
No matter who ultimately takes Scalia’s place, it is hard for me to believe that he or she will vote as reliably conservative as he did.
The political battle over Scalia’s successor began almost immediately upon word of his death in Texas this past Saturday. President Barack Obama, at a White House press conference held later that day, stated he would appoint a successor to Scalia’s seat when the court returned from recess later in the month.
“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a formal statement released Saturday night.
Appointees to the Supreme Court should be evaluated based on their qualifications, not on who’s appointing them. Delaying the appointment of a Supreme Court nominee for strictly partisan reasons is detrimental to our democracy.
The Court, weakened by 4-4 splits between conservative and liberal justices, will be unable to rule on pressing issues like immigration, affirmative action or abortion. Lower court decisions by democrat-appointed justices will stand because they can no longer be overturned by 5-4 conservative high court rulings.
Sadly, the open seat has already added to an increased partisan rhetoric on the campaign trail.
At the Republican debate in South Carolina last Saturday, all six remaining Republican candidates set themselves in opposition to any Supreme Court nomination made by President Obama, arguing that it should be left to the next president to fill the vacant seat.
“We ought to make the 2016 election a referendum on the U.S Supreme Court,” said presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz on “Meet the Press” the next day.
Claims have been thrown around stating the Republican-dominated Congress will obstruct Democratic efforts at any cost, and the current opposition from party candidates is simply fueling the fire.
“The sudden death of Justice Scalia creates an immediate vacancy on the most important court in the United States,” U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Twitter. “Senator McConnell is right that the American people should have a voice in the selection of the next Supreme Court justice. In fact, they did when President Obama won the 2012 election by five million votes.”
She then went on to cite Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution which grants the President the power to appoint Supreme Court justices.
“The Republicans in the Senate and on the campaign trail who are calling for Justice Scalia’s seat to remain vacant dishonor our Constitution,” said Secretary Hillary Clinton in a statement released by her campaign team last Sunday. “The Senate has a constitutional responsibility here that it cannot abdicate for partisan political reasons.”
Judicial hearings to fill Scalia’s seat are guaranteed to be a partisan affair. It’s unlikely any Obama appointee to the high court will make it past the numerous confirmation obstacles in the Senate to become a justice.
However, the political damage done to Republicans by denying potential nominees for Scalia’s seat could spell disaster for them come election time in November.
