Los Angeles Times Examines McCain's, Obama's Views Regarding Appointment Of Supreme Court Justices

Main Category: Public Health
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Article Date: 20 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The Los Angeles Times on Monday examined the "sharply contrasting views" held by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) regarding Supreme Court justice appointments the presidential candidates would make if elected. According to the Times, it is "not just a theoretical policy debate" because whoever is elected president could appoint at least one justice in the next presidential term.

According to the Times, if McCain is elected president, he could create a conservative majority on the court "for years," which "would probably overturn Roe v. Wade." McCain in a recent speech said he thought that "abuse of judicial authority" has continued unchecked. He added, "The result, over many years, has been a series of judicial opinions and edicts wandering farther and farther from the clear meanings of the Constitution." McCain also said he would "follow President Bush's model" and appoint justices who are similar to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

Obama, if elected president, would be "hard-pressed" to establish a "truly liberal court" because the court's "two most liberal justices" -- John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- are its oldest, the Times reports. However, by replacing the justices with liberal counterparts, Obama could "preserve abortion rights and maintain a strict separation of church and state," according to the Times. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has said both Roberts and Alito threaten Roe and the constitutional right to abortion, but she has had "less to say" during her presidential campaign on the role of the courts, the Times reports.

Obama -- who has spoken "admiringly" of former Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justices Stephen Breyer, Ginsburg and David Souter -- said, "I want people on the bench who have enough empathy, enough feeling, for what ordinary people are going through." Obama during the confirmation hearings for Roberts said, "Both a (conservative Justice Antonin) Scalia and a Ginsburg will arrive at the same place most of the time." He added, "What matters at the Supreme Court is those 5% of cases that are truly difficult. ... In those difficult cases, the critical ingredient is supplied by what is in the judge's heart."

According to the Times, McCain's and Obama's comments on judicial nominations reflect a "long-standing divide" between conservatives and liberals on the role of the courts. "Reduced to the simplest terms, conservatives say judges should follow the law, and liberals say they should ensure that justice is done," the Times reports (Savage, Los Angeles Times, 5/19).

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