Chance For Supreme Court Nominations Is 'Sleeper Issue' Of Presidential Campaign, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 13 Oct 2008 - 0:00 PST

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The "sleeper issue" of the presidential campaign is the potential for Supreme Court nominations under the next president, who "could have a tremendous impact on the Court well into this century with even one nomination," Wendy Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. According to Long, the current Court "is significantly to the left of the American public and persistently fails to uphold the Constitution," adding that the Court does this through "'judicial activism'" by making decisions "based on the personal views of usually-the-same-five justices" -- Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and David Hackett Souter. She adds that "Roe v. Wade is classic example of this lawlessness" because "the Court snatched from 'We the People' the ability to govern ourselves by deciding abortion policy -- a subject the Constitution doesn't address." Long writes that because of several factors -- "the current make-up of the Court, the advanced age of so many justices, and the unprecedented politicization of the judiciary" -- Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) "may have a greater impact on the Supreme Court, and hence its future ruling, than any president in our history." She concludes that voters must "elect a president whose judgment and criteria will be brought to bear on that task" (Long, Washington Times, 10/10).

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