The unexpected death of Justice Scalia throws a wrench into an already volatile 2016 election and what happens next will largely depend on a variety of factors and political calculations made by President Obama and the Republican controlled Senate.Here are some scenarios that can happen as the President and Senate battle it out over who will replace the late justice.
"They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed." And just like that, marriage equality is the law of the land.Today is a day millions of our citizens--both gay and straight--will never forget. When is it time to throw in the towel and accept that the tide has turned? Napoleon must have asked himself this very question after being humiliated in the Battle of Waterloo and summarily exiled for the remainder of his life. It's also the same question many anti-gay marriage activists must be asking themselves after the Supreme Court refused to wade back into the gay marriage debate. On Tuesday Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on what has become to be known as "The Hobby Lobby" case. I may be accused of being too hyperbolic, but I believe this case has the potential to redefine the concept of religious freedom for years to come.
As Republicans and Democrats gird for a showdown over when and with whom to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the political question is which party will benefit from the battle. If a new survey is any indication, Republicans could end up sacrificing seats in the Senate if they refuse to allow a vote on President Barack Obama's nominee until after the elections in November. A new CBS News poll out this morning finds that Donald Trump continues to dominate among Republican voters nationally: He’s backed by 35 percent; Ted Cruz has 18 percent; and Marco-Mentum has 12 percent. There was a great deal of excitement about yesterday’s NBC poll finding Trump had slipped behind Cruz, but that now looks like it may have been an outlier. Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor says President Barack Obama should get to nominate a replacement for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, rebuking Republicans who have in recent days shown reticence toward voting — or even holding hearings — to approve a successor in an election year. Concerted Republican opposition to considering President Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court showed early signs of splintering on Wednesday as a handful of influential senators opened the door to a possible confirmation hearing. One Republican even suggested the president should nominate a candidate from his state. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, did not rule out a committee hearing on Obama's forthcoming nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia. And Sen. Dean Heller said chances of Senate approval were slim, but added that Obama should "use this opportunity to put the will of the people ahead of advancing a liberal agenda" on the high court. On September 7, 1956, just two months before a Presidential election, Associate Justice Sherman Minton announced that, effective October 15th, after serving for seven years and three days, he was retiring from the Supreme Court because of poor health. Minton, who had been appointed by his friend Harry Truman, a Democratic President, then returned to his home in New Albany, Indiana. “He was more than our associate,” Earl Warren, the Chief Justice, said. “He was our companion.” Thirty-three minutes after the San Antonio Express-News reported the death of Antonin Scalia, I emailed several conservative consultants involved in past Supreme Court fights: “Can Obama get a replacement confirmed?” The first reply came nine minutes later: “Absolutely not,” the GOP operative replied. “We won’t let them vote.” The Republican head of the Senate panel that weighs Supreme Court nominations said on Tuesday he will wait until President Barack Obama names his pick to fill the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia's death before deciding whether to hold confirmation hearings. The death of Justice Antonin Scalia came at an inopportune moment for conservatives, all but guaranteeing that the liberal side will prevail on a number of hot-button cases before the Supreme Court right now. But some conservatives are fretting that the timing might be far more dangerous than that, allowing President Barack Obama to bypass the Republican-controlled Senate and make a recess appointment to fill Scalia's seat.
During oral arguments at a Supreme Court case on affirmative action and the use of race in college admissions, Justice Antonin Scalia suggested that black students are being "pushed into schools that are too advanced for them" and that they should take a “slower track” in their education. Legal experts say Justice Antonin Scalia erred in his dissent in the 6-2 decision Tuesday to uphold the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate coal pollution that moves across state lines. The Reagan-appointed jurist argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with a unanimous 2001 ruling which he mistakenly said shot down EPA efforts to consider costs when setting regulations.
"While I would not argue that capitalism as an economic system is inherently more Christian than socialism ... it does seem to me that capitalism is more dependent on Christianity than socialism is. For in order for capitalism to work -- in order for it to produce a good and a stable society -- the traditional Christian virtues are essential."
"[Voting Rights Act is] perpetuation of racial entitlement.”
"If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?"
State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity are likewise sustainable only in light of Bowers’ validation of laws based on moral choices. Every single one of these laws is called into question by today’s decision; the Court makes no effort to cabin the scope of its decision to exclude them from its holding.
As I have noted above, this is proved false every time a state law prohibiting or disfavoring certain conduct is passed, because such a law prevents the adversely affected group--whether drug addicts, or smokers, or gun owners, or motorcyclists--from changing the policy thus established in "each of [the] parts" of the State.
“The Court’s opinion contains grim, disapproving hints that Coloradans have been guilty of ‘animus’ or ‘animosity’ toward homosexuality, as though that has been established as Unamerican. . . . I had thought that one could consider certain conduct reprehensible–murder, for example, or polygamy, or cruelty to animals–and could exhibit even ‘animus’ toward such conduct.”
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