It must be June, because we're starting to hear about a Supreme Court short list. Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC is reporting that the White House has created a short list of potential Supreme Court nominees, should a justice retire at the end of the term – something no one is expecting.
Greenburg pointed out that the president’s judicial nominees have already pushed the Supreme Court to the right and are seen as one of his few successes by his supporters. Another Bush nominee “could turn the Court firmly to the right.” On the list, according to Greenburg, are radical conservatives Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, Edith Brown Clement, and Diane Sykes, along with Loretta Preska (a judge on the District Court for the Southern District of New York), and Raoul Cantero (a judge on the Florida Supreme Court). As Greenburg stated, “Leading Senate Democrats are already warning against solidly conservative nominees, and that could make confirmation difficult in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Still, some of Bush's political advisers believe he would be better off tapping a strong conservative who would rally the base.”
This is all the more reason for the Senate to refuse to confirm controversial nominees like Judge Leslie Southwick. If the senators don’t stand up now and demand consensus nominees from the president, it will be much more difficult to do so down the road when the stakes are even higher.
No comments:
Post a Comment