Best chance yet to get the presidential candidates talking about the Supreme Court

Deadline to submit questions is midnight tonight 

The Oct. 16 presidential debate will be in a town-hall format.  But in addition to taking questions from an audience in the room with the candidates, moderator Candy Crowley may pass on some questions from people who send them in online.

Just click here and fill in the form before midnight tonight to send your question to the Commission on Presidential Debates.  The Commission will pass on some of them to Crowley.  As this is written nearly 1,500 questions have been submitted – but only six of them even mention the Supreme Court.

We can change that.  Submit questions about the Supreme Court.  You can submit the questions we suggested in a letter AFJ sent to the debate moderators on Oct. 1, or come up with your own.  Then vote for the questions you like about the Supreme Court.

With so many cases now decided by one vote, if the next president fills even one Supreme Court vacancy it could change the court, and America, for decades.  The stakes are too high to leave this off the debate agenda.

AND DON’T FORGET THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

You also can help us try to put the Supreme Court on the agenda for the vice presidential candidates debate on Thursday. If either Joe Biden or Paul Ryan were to become president, what kind of people would they nominate to serve on the Supreme Court?

Jim Lehrer failed to ask about this during the first presidential debate.  On Thursday it will be Martha Raddatz’s turn.  Please ask her to ask the vice presidential candidates: What about the Supreme Court?  You can contact her at Martha.raddatz@abcnews.com or tweet her @martharaddatz

No luck with Jim Lehrer, Maybe Martha Raddatz will do better

           Unfortunately, moderator Jim Lehrer did not ask the presidential candidates about the Supreme Court during tonight's debate – in spite of the high stakes and the strong public interest, as is discussed in the previous post to this Blog.  Yes, the candidates discussed important issues and what they would do over the next four years.  But a change in even one Supreme Court justice could change America for decades.

            But there are three more chances, starting with the vice presidential debate on October 11.  So please ask moderator Martha Raddatz to press the vice presidential candidates on this issue.  You can contact her at Martha.raddatz@abcnews.com or tweet her @martharaddatz

Ask the moderators to ask the candidates: What about the Supreme Court?

            As the United States Supreme Court begins its new term, and with the first presidential candidates’ debate scheduled for tomorrow night, the Alliance for Justice is urging the moderators of the debates to press the candidates for answers about the kinds of people they would nominate to the Court.

            “Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the percentage of cases in which decisions are reached by a vote of 5 to 4 is the highest in history,” AFJ President Nan Aron wrote in the letter, sent to moderators Jim Lehrer, Martha Raddatz, Candy Crowley and Bob Schieffer on Oct. 1.  “So even if he fills only one vacancy, the next president may change the direction of the court, and America, for generations.”

But we can’t do it alone.  We’d like your help.  Please join us in asking the debate moderators to ask the candidates about the Supreme Court.

At the end of this post, we’ve included the email addresses and Twitter handles of the moderators for the three presidential and one vice presidential debate.  Please send each a nice note; and a nice tweet.  Explain why the direction of the Supreme Court is important to you, and ask them to ask the candidates about who they would put on the court.

The stakes couldn’t be higher.  As Nan Aron points out:

“The term underway now may well see the culmination of a 40-year campaign on behalf of big business to put its interests ahead of those of labor and consumers.  Over several terms the court majority has put the thumb of big business on the scales of justice, repeatedly voting to roll back protections for workers and consumers.  Over and over, these were 5 to 4 votes.”

There’s more about our letter to the debate moderators, and the stakes, in our press release.

How to contact the debate moderators:

First presidential debate, Oct 3: Jim Lehrer: Jlehrer@newshour.org; @newshour

Vice presidential debate, Oct 11: Martha Raddatz: Martha.raddatz@abcnews.com @martharaddatz

Second presidential debate, Oct. 16: Candy Crowley: candy.crowley@turner.com; @crowleyCNN

Third presidential debate, Oct. 22: Bob Schieffer: bsc@cbsnews.com; @bobschieffer