A Trump-nominated successor to Kennedy would likely become the court’s fifth reliable conservative, joining Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Gorsuch.

Roberts has not been entirely reliable and just the other day the Court cobbled together a majority comprised of Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. That is from Carpenter v United States (22 June 2018). Roberts also upheld Obamacare.

One of the liberals might die at the bench rather than retire and a conservative replacement could lead to reconsideration of such precedents as Roe v. Wade. As it is, lib heads have been exploding the past few days.

Kennedy is 81, turns 82 next month. Ginsburg is 85. Breyer is 79, turns 80 in August.

Trump will be able to nominate another Progressive Activist justice to legislate from the bench, like Gorsuch. An oppressive globalist police state, more taxes and spying, with Sarah Huckabee Sanders peeking in your window.

Donnell's agenda of turning America into a globalist third world s**thole marches on...

Trump will be able to nominate another Progressive Activist justice to legislate from the bench, like Gorsuch.

Yes he will!!! And you have decades to bitch about the fine, conservative opinions they deliver.

Roberts has not been entirely reliable...

Stop trying to harsh my buzz, dude!

Trump will be able to nominate another Progressive Activist justice to legislate from the bench, like Gorsuch.

I hear that Judge Roy Moore is available and not currently on any court.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, a conservative who provided key votes for same sex-marriage, abortion access and affirmative action, will retire from the Supreme Court.

Just to be clear. In 2015, Justice Kennedy ruled in favor of same sex marriage in a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Justice Kennedy ruled in favor of factoring in race in college admissions, ruling against the reverse discrimination lawsuit 4-3.

Justice Kennedy reaffirmed the right to an abortion in 1992 in a 5-4 decision.

Justice Kennedy ruled in 2007 to force the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as pollutants in a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Some conservative.

Won’t be long before that coffin dodging twat Ginsburg shits the bed. I’m gonna throw a huge party when that old wrinkly rug munching cunt dies.

Just one more YOUNG, conservative/libertarian minded justice (like Gorsuch) placed on that bench, and those snowflakes are fucked.

And the Left knows it.

Won’t be long before that coffin dodging twat Ginsburg shits the bed.

The Lefties are probably praying to their gods for her health every night.

They're still so pissed that she didn't retire so 0bama could replace her. But, no-o-o-o-o, she was too precious and couldn't just step down.

They're still so pissed that she didn't retire so 0bama could replace her. But, no-o-o-o-o, she was too precious and couldn't just step down.

Perhaps she wanted to be replaced by the first female president. And then a funny thing happened on the way to oval office.

With the swingman likely moving from Kennedy to Roberts, the Court will make a clear move to the right. It will be a long, lonely and frustrating session for Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. It can't be much fun to be a highly partisan Supreme Court justice and be irrelevant.

It will be a long, lonely and frustrating session for Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. It can't be much fun to be a highly partisan Supreme Court justice and be irrelevant.

It'll be fun for us to watch though.

This also raises the odds that 0bamaCare will repeal itself over the fee/penalty/tax. I don't see how Roberts manages to save it twice.

Which would be the end of any 0bama legacy.

Which would be the end of any 0bama legacy.

Except for the massive pile of doubled debt that all went to Odumbass's cronies.

I hear that Judge Roy Moore is available and not currently on any court.

Unfortunately Roy Moore is an old fart who's likely to croak soon, giving President Pocahontas the opportunity to nominate another justice in addition to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement.

That evil old bat will hang in the rafters of SCOTUS, until Trump is gone in 2021, if not sooner.

Passed out, after sucking up too much of Anthony Kennedy's "Fine California Wine". Lesbians concerned.

That evil old bat will hang in the rafters of SCOTUS, until Trump is gone in 2021, if not sooner.

She might. But maybe not. Things can go south healthwise very quickly with people over 80 (or with seniors who are younger). We've all seen it before.

Jameson might park his car in the garage tonight and leave it running.

When he’s found, his skin will have a nice pink color.

Rumor has it the DL is sicker than she admits.

If only... But let's move on to who is topping the list to replace Kennedy.

And why did Kavanagh reach that decision? Glad you asked.

Obviously, a jurist from Trump's list who is that willing to outrage the liberal establishment would make an attractive hard-Right choice for Trump. Fauxcahontas would be in full war paint, ready to scalp him since CFPB is her baby.

Fauxcahontas

You are another fucking DWEEB using short term messages into political dynamite. Why? As an opinion, you are FUCKED UPPED like the rest of the world.

You are another fucking DWEEB using short term messages into political dynamite.

I can't take your messages seriously.

After long study of your posts here, I have concluded that you have been captured by some pimp from the violent cartels and have been turned out as a cartel sex slave. You spend your days servicing anemic Canadian sex tourists and swarthy Central American narco-terrorists. And they force you to post these misleading messages here at LF.

If you are being held hostage, you can signal that to us in code by "denying" that you are a cartel sex slave.

I'm sure G.I. will try to help free you from your present state of sexual degradation, granting sexual favors for as little as a peso (2 pesos for anal).

I have concluded ... blah blah bah

Do you possess any credentials to support or otherwise create into an authenticate summary report besides sitting around a fukin' "YEP, I can eat a pil of beans and fart on everyone."

Get ir, pal?

Current Prediction Statistics for Trump Supreme Court Nominee

A questionable poll ^^^^. Don Willett = MAGA

2) Don Willett

4) Brett Kavanaugh

6) Mike Lee

Do you possess any credentials to support or otherwise create into an authenticate summary report besides sitting around a fukin' "YEP, I can eat a pil of beans and fart on everyone."

You're only saying that because a couple of swarthy Central American narco-terrorists are forcing you to post that. And to submit to their perverted sodomy.

I can only hope that G.I. will know how to rescue you.

I'm picturing something like Rambo IV. You, of course, will be the Damsel In Distress.

6) Mike Lee

His vote will be needed for confirmation. No justice would join the Court by voting for himself. And it would thin the Senate ranks further. After Trump lost Sessions' safe AL seat via Strange and Moore, he won't go for anything that makes it harder for the Senate GOP.

I had been worried about voter turnout in the fall elections since the low-info voters who supported the prez when elected all tend to disappear and the other party picks up lots of seats in any president's first midterm.

I thought that only a major gun massacre in the fall and consequent screams by the Left for a big gungrab could arouse the voters enough to hold off Pelosi as Speaker and keep control of the Senate.

Clearly, this confirmation will be conducted more as a central GOP political issue to rouse the voters rather than as a regular judicial confirmation.

Trump got a lot of reluctant votes just for the judicial appointments. A lot of people made it clear they couldn't stand Trump but wanted to deny Dems any court appointments. This is Trump's chance to score a midterm victory with exactly that issue to bring out those reluctant voters again.

Amy Coney Barrett, 7th Circuit, former clerk to Antonin Scalia, former Notre Dame professor, member Federalist Society, on Trump's list.

Looks good on paper but perhaps not experienced enough. Also there will be resistance to promoting her from her current court of appeals (a very high honor) and then appointing her again so soon to a higher court like USSC.

I think the GOP may go for a strong conservative, more bold and less circumspect about it than Gorsuch. It would likely cause a Dem meltdown and provide a lot of fodder for the fall midterms. Turnout, turnout, turnout. Especially those reluctant voters who voted for Trump just for the judges.

This is probably going to be the most politicized appointment to the Court in our history. And the 2018 election may end up being all about this justice, far more than the Dem attempt to do the same with the Merrick Garland nomination in 2016.

Barrett is youngest, under 50. She got attacked for being too Catholic by Feinstein,

Too Catholic?? That's a hoot considering Fineswine was raised as one and claims to have great respect for Catholicism. So does this mean that Barrett is too Progressive or too Conservative since the church has both in it's ranks?

Wiki:

I don't think Feinstein is Catholic. Jewish on both sides of her family, married to three guys with Jewish names, etc.

Brett Kavanaugh of Maryland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Kavanaugh, 53, is a former clerk to the man he could replace on the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy. He was named to the D.C. Circuit by President George W. Bush in 2003, but his confirmation was not without conflict. Kavanaugh worked with independent counsel Kenneth Starr in the investigation of President Bill Clinton, and Senate Democrats argued he was too partisan to serve on the court. His nomination languished for three years, before Kavanaugh was finally confirmed in 2006. He was sworn in by Kennedy.

Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in by Kennedy to be a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006. With him are his wife Ashley and President George W. Bush.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that this guy was recommended by Kennedy during his meeting with Trump. Could last for decades.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that this guy was recommended by Kennedy during his meeting with Trump. Could last for decades.

We'll never know. I just posted a fresh review of the supposed top 5 picks. Kavanagh doesn't look as good after I read Shapiro's estimation of his record. Kavanagh could be another weak sister, like Roberts.

We can't make that mistake again.

Fauxcahontas

You are another fucking DWEEB using short term messages into political dynamite. Why? As an opinion, you are FUCKED UPPED like the rest of the world.

Yeah! Her actual Injun name is Princess Gray Beaver.

Get it right, folks.

With the swingman likely moving from Kennedy to Roberts, the Court will make a clear move to the right.

Astute. Even if Roberts is the new Kennedy, it will still be more conservative than having Kennedy on the Court.

I saw a paragraph that brought your remark to mind.

Kennedy leaving the bench in a fit of conservative glory? Roberts rising to be a swing vote as he was on 0-care and as the new swing vote? Maybe some of each?

Anyway, the concrete numbers show that Kennedy clove to the conservative SCOTUS and ignored the lib SCOTUS in his final term. And that had to be a deliberate choice. And Roberts may have known of Kennedy's intention to retire even well before Trump did, which might have made Roberts more eager to carve out his new swing vote role.

Having gotten rid of Kennedy, Roberts may well rise to be the new swing vote. Exactly as Kennedy himself became the "swing vote" following the Sandra Day O'Connor retirement. (Didja know that old bat was still hearing cases in 2016 as an adjutant judge or something? Along with a staffed federal judge's office. Yeeesh. Can't they ever just go away quietly?)

I can't take your messages seriously.

To sum it up:

*****drink*****

To sum it up:

I'm very concerned that buckaroo is being sexually trafficked by perverted Central American narco-terrorists.

You need to take this seriously.

Barrett is youngest, under 50. She got attacked for being too Catholic by Feinstein, she recently had a full vetting by the FBI and Dems and libmedia.

Looks good on paper but perhaps not experienced enough.

Limited experience on the bench. Whatever experience she has on the bench is that much more than Mike Lee. I would favor someone with a proven track record on the bench. Another Gorsuch would do fine.

Another female mentioned is:

Allison Eid, 10th Circuit (2017), Trump nominee to succeed Gorsuch, on Trump list, Colorado Supreme Court (2006-17), clerked for Clarence Thomas (1993-94).

Another possibility is Amul Thapar, Indian (India) ethnicity, 6th Circuit (2017), U.S. District Court, Eastern District Kentucky (2008-17), on Trump's list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rex_Lee

Also Thomas Lee, Associate Justice Utah Supreme Court (2010-present). Mike Lee's older brother. On Trump's list.

Wikipedia:

In his time on the court he has been a prolific writer, authoring over a quarter of majority opinions on a five-member court, and frequently issuing concurring or dissenting opinions. Lee is a pioneer in law and corpus linguistics—the application of corpus linguistics to determine ordinary meaning in statutes—being the first American judge to do so in an opinion.

[...]

A 2016 paper written by Jeremy Kidd of the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law and others attempted to measure the "Scalia-ness" of various potential nominees to the Supreme Court to fill the seat left vacant by Justice Antonin Scalia's death. The study created a "Scalia Index Score" combining the various measures of "Scalia-ness," and Lee scored highest. The study found that Lee was the most likely to endorse or engage in originalism in judicial opinions, was second most likely to cite Scalia's non-judicial writings in opinions, and the third most likely to write separately when not writing the majority opinion.[14] The study was updated again in 2018, adding new variables and more names, and Lee again scored the highest.

In a 2016 article, Professor John McGinnis of the Northwestern University School of Law argued that Lee was similar to Scalia in being "capable of pressing the intellectual case for following the Constitution as written" because of Lee "has pioneered the application of corpus linguistics to law," and further wrote that if elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court, "Lee would create a transmission belt from the best work of originalists in the academy to the Supreme Court."

Hannah Clayson Smith, writing in the National Review, praised Lee as a possible successor to Scalia because of Lee's similar jurisprudential style to the late Justice, but noted that with respect to Lee's views on judicial precedent, "Justice Lee is more like Justice Thomas than like Justice Scalia." Smith noted that Lee (like Thomas) has repeatedly advocated for overruling precedent that he views as "contrary to the original meaning of the Utah constitution," even if precedent takes a different approach.

There is someting to be said for a prolific writer from the bench with a lot of Scalia-ness.

As for people with much experience on the Federal bench, anyone nominated between Jan 1989 and Jan 2017 was nominated by either a Bush, a Clinton, or an Obama. That could make recent Trump appointees from State benches look attractive. Their bench history would be better known to the Trump administration and the Federalist Society (advising Trump) than the general public. Once someone is named, their bench history would be scrutinized in a hurry.

I can only hope that G.I. will know how to rescue you.

His only escape... is a buckshot sandwich.

Methinks all the family he left behind in the states would look forward to no more embarrassment associated with having to tell others, they are related to Ba ba ba Bucky.

I don't think Feinstein is Catholic.

Wait. Mary Magdalene O'Feinstein isn't Catholic? WHO KNEW?

Limited experience on the bench. Whatever experience she has on the bench is that much more than Mike Lee. I would favor someone with a proven track record on the bench. Another Gorsuch would do fine.

In hindsight, they should have gone with Hardiman first, then gone with Gorsuch for this second seat. But hindsight provided us no guides at the time and Gorsuch whet the voters' appetite for more. And probably helped Kennedy decide to quit now.

Like you, Trump's judge team seems to value those with a record on the bench, more than some undocumented newbie.

Wait. Mary Magdalene O'Feinstein isn't Catholic? WHO KNEW?

I know, right? I was as shocked as anyone.     : )

There is someting to be said for a prolific writer from the bench with a lot of Scalia-ness.

And just a few years ago, it was best to be a ghost-justice with Scalia-ish opinions and no record on the bench at all.

Like you, Trump's judge team seems to value those with a record on the bench, more than some undocumented newbie.

Justice Thomas is an example of a justice who had very limited judicial experience when appointed to the Supreme Court. He is famous for not asking questions in oral argument, and once went over ten years without asking a question. Such presumably unforeseen behavior must limit his influence on the Court. I believe Trump wants justices who are forceful in oral argument and in written opinions, and who will influence the Court.

For a well-known dissenting opinion by Kavanaugh, see Seven-Sky v. Holder where he wrote a lengthy opinion arguing against Obamacare. Kavanaugh's dissent starts at page 39.

https://www.scribd.com/document/382840264/Seven-Sky-v-Holder-No-11-5047-DC-Cir-8-Dec-2011-Obamacare-Kavanaugh-Dissent-at-39

I think Barrett and the Indian guy are both strong contenders too. McConnell is going to wring all the politics out of this that he can, far more than Trump. And Trump's win with Gorsuch is due only to McConnell's tenacity in holding the seat open when he was the only figure who thought it would work. But it did work and Mitch the Turtle's stock rose accordingly. The 2016 election was as much about Scalia's seat as it was about Trump. And the 2018 election will be as much about Kennedy's seat as anything else (except the economy). Mitch had a big hit with Gorsuch and he'll try to repeat it.

Washington Examiner: Oddsmakers favor Kavanaugh, Thapar, Sen. Mike Lee for Supreme Court

Mike Lee is the wild card, IMO.

If you're betting on Kavanagh, that's not a bad bet.

I think it is a bad bet. I believe Kavanaugh owes his loyalty to the Bushes and the neo-cons, rather than Trump. Trump values loyalty to Trump.

The 2016 election was as much about Scalia's seat as it was about Trump.

I saw the importance of a Trump win being his or Hillary's ability to nominate 2 or 3 justices and reshape the Court for a couple of decades.

I saw the importance of a Trump win being his or Hillary's ability to nominate 2 or 3 justices and reshape the Court for a couple of decades.

I think many millions of voters did vote for Trump just because they did not want the Xlintons (or and Dems) making those picks.

They didn't necessarily want Trump for that job but he was standing there, all available. The important part was that he was not named Xlinton and was not a diehard Left-wing Dem. And that is good enough and does constitute a Trump mandate.

The voters knew. And they made their choice, whether the libmedia and the Beltway establishment like it or not. It's worth noting that their visceral dislike of Trump probably helped put him over the top with voters. And that too constitutes a Trump mandate from the voters.

Too Catholic?? That's a hoot considering Fineswine was raised as one and claims to have great respect for Catholicism. So does this mean that Barrett is too Progressive or too Conservative since the church has both in it's ranks?

She's not Frankensteins brand of Catholic. The type who actually read the catechism on abortion.