Anyone who follows American politics knows how important it is to get the right sort of president in, because – among other things – he is the one who nominates new Supreme Court of the United States’ justices when one retires. And given that a justice can hang around for decades – well beyond the president who nominated him – getting a good choice is crucial.
President Trump has already brought in one conservative judge during his brief time in office: Neil Gorsuch. And now he has the chance to bring in another, since Justice Anthony Kennedy has just announced his retirement, effective July 31 of this year.
While a US president can only serve two 4-year terms at the most, a Supreme Court justice can stay there till he dies. So if a good judge (read: conservative constitutionalist) gets in, that will have longstanding impact – hopefully for the good – on America. If a bad one (leftist, judicial activist-type) gets in, America can suffer for many years, many decades, and beyond.
Getting another conservative who respects the US Constitution as opposed to another judicial activist who views the Constitution as a malleable, “living, breathing document” will make all the difference in the world. For more on this issue of judicial activism, see here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2008/11/02/the-threat-of-judicial-activism/
But it is early days yet. Two things have to happen before conservatives can get excited. One, Trump has to find and promote someone who is indeed a solid constitutionalist and conservative; and two, he must get through a vote in the Senate, where most Democrats will likely vote ‘no’. A simple majority vote will get him in.
So time will tell how all this pans out. But already plenty of folks are excited (or dismayed, depending on their political point of view) about the replacement. Leftists fear one more conservative could see some of their most valued ‘achievements,’ such as abortion on demand, rolled back.
Conservatives look for a return to some form of sanity at SCOTUS after so many years of madness, including the decision to legalise homosexual marriage. So this is a momentous decision indeed, and the next few months will see some real hardball politics in action
Let me finish by citing just four American conservatives and their views on all this. First, Penny Nance, head of Concerned Women for America, said this:
This is the moment conservative women have been waiting for — the chance to return justice and constitutional limits to the nation’s highest court. This is the reason why they voted overwhelmingly for Donald J. Trump over Hillary Clinton. We want a Supreme Court that rejects the subjective ‘living, breathing’ constitutional philosophy which judicial activist have used to force liberal political policies on the country under the guise of law. It is time for a Supreme Court that returns power to ‘We the People.’
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-anthony-kennedy-retiring-trump-to-get-second-supreme-court-pick
Second, Robert A. J. Gagnon, who has done so much to stand up against the radical homosexual agenda, said this on the social media:
Hooray! Although Kennedy voted correctly in the recent crisis-pregnancy center and travel ban cases and half-way correctly in the Masterpiece Cake decision, he was the chief architect of the Obergefell “gay marriage” decision (and before that the Romer “animus” and Lawrence “sodomy” cases), one of the worst decisions in Supreme Court history, right up there with Dred Scott, Plessy, and Roe. Hopefully Trump will pick someone more solidly an originalist and conservative who will not so easily bypass the rigorous process for amending the Constitution under the guise of judicial interpretation. A Republican form of government cannot long survive oligarchic rule by five (or more) unelected jurists who can’t see the difference between the text of the Constitution and their own left-wing ideology imputed to that “living” text. A solid pick by Trump would end for the time being the constant concern for Kennedy as a “swing vote” and instead provide a solid 5-4 majority for originalists or conservatives. Highly important.
Third, long-standing pro-lifer Randall Terry minced no words. In typical style he said this in his title: “A Wretched Jurist, and a Treacherous Catholic with Blood on His Hands – May President Trump Learn from President Reagan’s Mistake.”
He continued:
When President Reagan appointed Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court, our hearts were high with hope that the scourge of Roe vs. Wade would soon be overturned. Instead, the blood of innocent babies continued to be shed after Kennedy betrayed God and His innocent children by affirming Roe in Planned Parenthood vs.Casey.
Because of Kennedy’s treachery to God, the babies, and his oath before God to uphold the U.S. constitution, tens of millions of babies have been discarded in sewers and landfills, where their blood cries to God for vengeance, and cries as a witness against Justice Kennedy, and all his comrades in judicial fiats.
Kennedy then confirmed his audacious belligerence against God and man by overturning the laws of nearly all 50 states regarding the definition of marriage. His Obergefell opinion was – as Justice Scalia declared – a “judicial Putsch;” a literal overthrow of the system of laws and traditions that define America as a nation of laws. With Kennedy in the lead, Americans became the subjects of tyrants.
http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/10681329.html
Finally, a lengthy piece by David French highlights the importance of all this:
The consequences of Kennedy’s retirement — both legal and political — are immense. First, let’s look at the legal angle. While Kennedy’s judicial liberalism was often exaggerated (for example, he wrote or joined a number of solid opinions that protected and reaffirmed core constitutional liberties, including liberties protected by the First and Second Amendments), it’s a simple fact that as a “moderate” swing justice he served as the primary judicial guardian of abortion rights and was more responsible than any other justice for the relentless legal march of the sexual revolution.
He goes on to say this:
If Trump holds firm to his promise to choose his next justice from the list he put forward last November, the Supreme Court will be dominated by a core of five largely originalist justices, and the next two oldest judges are both progressive. Justice Ginsburg is 85, and Justice Breyer turns 80 in August. It may be quite some time before a president will have the opportunity to so clearly and decisively impact the judicial philosophy of the Court. In the meantime, that means that originalists may well have a golden opportunity to reset our jurisprudence to align more with the words and meaning of the Constitution. It’s too much (perhaps) to argue that Roe could fall, but one can easily imagine the Court granting greater autonomy to state governments to regulate abortion providers. One can also imagine more robust protections for free speech and religious liberty, greater protection for the right to keep and bear arms, and further inroads against the unconstitutional administrative state.
And he offers a much-needed word of warning here:
Finally, a word of caution to gleeful conservatives. We’ve been here before. We’ve had opportunities to remake the Court. President Reagan and the first President Bush together appointed a majority of the Supreme Court. Yet Roe endured, and the Court even moved left on key issues. Presidents don’t nominate robots. They nominate people who possess their own will. It will be imperative that conservatives closely evaluate Trump’s potential picks, but that person — no matter his or her record — will not only possess immense power, they’ll face immense pressure. May he or she possess not just the right philosophy, but also the necessary character to do all the job requires. So much for a quiet summer. The next weeks and months may well define the Supreme Court for a generation — and help decide who controls Congress. Buckle up. It’s going to be a wild ride.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/anthony-kennedy-retirement-legal-political-implications/
Exactly right. As always, we need to work and pray for a really good outcome here.
[1370 words]