A great American
institution passed away over the weekend. The Rule of Law, under fire for
decades by power-hungry leftists, was 228.
Concurrently, one
of the last defenders of the Rule of Law, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia,
was found dead at a ranch resort in West Texas. He was 79. Almost before his
body had assumed room temperature, political wrangling began.
With Scalia,
conservatives (or those who share that general view) held a one-vote majority,
which often led to cases decided by a 5-4 vote. Now liberals salivate at the
prospect of a one-vote majority and further eviscerating things they despise,
such as the First and Second amendments.
Since the Senate
must confirm a nominee submitted by the president, leaders from each party were
the first to speak up.
Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell: “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.”
Minority Leader
Harry Reid: “It would be unprecedented in recent history for the Supreme Court
to go a year with a vacant seat. Failing to fill this vacancy would be a
shameful abdication of one of the Senate’s most essential constitutional
responsibilities.”
Expect this issue
to increase the stakes on the presidential campaign trail. In the meantime,
real cases before the High Court will be affected. One likely to go unions’
(and Democrats’) way is Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. A lower
court determined that non-union teachers can be forced to pay dues for
collective bargaining; a reversal is unlikely.
The president has
floated the usual list of loons (Loretta Lynch?) as potential justices. Those
rooting for the issue to be decided in the election best remember that
depending on Senate Republicans’ backbone never works well.
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