To Nudge, Shift or Shove the Supreme Court Left
Justice John Paul Stevens, the leader of the Supreme Court’s liberal wing, likes to say that he has not moved to the left since he was appointed to the court by President Gerald R. Ford in 1975. It is the court, Justice Stevens says, that has moved to the right. Justice Stevens, who continues to be a keen and lively participant in oral arguments at the court, will turn 89 in April. Actuarial statistics alone suggest that President Obama may end up naming his replacement.
And that will present the new president with a question. Should he appoint someone who by historical standards is a full-throated liberal, a lion like Justice William J. Brennan Jr. or Justice Thurgood Marshall? Or should he follow the lead of President Bill Clinton, whose two appointees, Justice Ginsburg and Justice Stephen G. Breyer, are by those standards relative moderates?
It is certainly depressing that the Supreme Court has moved so unabashedly towards the conservative right in recent years. 5 of the 10 most conservative judges sit on the Supreme Court and quite possibly the most enduring legacy of the Bush administration has to be the judges appointed to the Supreme Court. Justice John Paul Stevens, one of my most respected judges is actually more of a moderate but appears far more liberal when compared to the rest of the Supreme Court. I’m not expecting Obama to appoint someone like Thurgood Marshall or William Brennan (though i do secretly hope that he will pick a decidedly liberal judge) but i do hope he will not continue the disturbing trend of appointing judges who are more conservative than their predecessors.
