The upcoming election has more at stake than just the next president. Not only does the U.S. president have power as the chief, but they also have a say over the way the supreme court operates and judges its cases.
With the death of the Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, there is a vacancy in the supreme court. Although President Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, to replace Scalia, there will not be a new justice on the supreme court until after the presidential election. This has been the topic of discussion because, until recently, there have been eight justices evenly divided into four conservatives and four liberals with a chief justice presiding over them. Scalia, a conservative, divided the group evenly between liberals and conservatives.
Why is this a big deal? Recently, the votes for supreme court cases have been polarized by political biases. The conservatives vote according to their stance and liberals according to their own. This is a problem because political biases should not be the deciding factor in a case. Because our next president will decide who will replace Scalia, the presidential election matters in deciding our supreme court justices.
Once elected, a justice serves until their death, retirement or conviction by the Senate.
According to the White House’s official website, the reason for this setup is because it “insulates them from the temporary passions of the public, and allows them to apply the law with only justice in mind, and not electoral or political concerns.”
One opinion is that we should trust our president to pick someone who will display “good behavior,” which is the requirement listed in the Constitution for a justice. Besides, in the past, Republican presidents routinely elected liberal justices. It simply did not matter if the political stance was shared by the elected justice—what did matter was if the justice would fulfill the requirement of good behavior. If the president follows the constitution, political bias should not be an issue.
Furthermore, Article III of the Constitution gives Congress the power to shape the structure of the judiciary however they please. For example, Congress can choose the number of justices currently serving on court. While the president may elect justices, Congress has power to create more positions that can potentially balance the court.
A common critique of the power Congress is that political bias is becoming a problem for supreme court justices. In the last few years, there has been a growing trend of supreme court decisions becoming more polarized along conservative and liberal stances. The conservatives are voting more conservatively and the liberals are standing their own ground. If political stances are dividing the justices, there is a reason for concern in the upcoming election. It’s worrisome that the justices are letting their political leanings get in the way of their votes because biases can cause decisions independent from a fair judgment. In the supreme court’s latest campaign finance decision in April 2014, there was a 5-4 decision with the conservative justices winning the vote. Political bias is a problem because it splits the justices into two camps.
Despite political bias being an issue, our supreme court justices have experience that we can trust. Hopefully, the winner of the presidential election will select a justice without political bias as well.
This country has a proud history of strong leaders and supreme court justices. Our justices can handle themselves because they have served for many years and witnessed multiple presidencies. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas have served as justices for nearly 30 years, making them strong enough to handle any new justice that might upset the balance of the supreme court. Because our justices serve for life, they have already accepted the challenges of their positions. Scalia’s replacement can learn from the wisdom of our seasoned justices. The track record of our nation suggests the right justices will continue to be nominated and take their positions on our proud supreme court.
While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are strong personalities and neither are my first choice for president, I trust that whoever is elected will stand by the Constitution and choose a supreme court justice who will serve with good behavior. The American people must vote for the best presidential candidate and trust our current supreme court justices to adapt as best they can to whoever fills the vacancy.
Beneventi: The next justice on the U.S. supreme court
Brian Beneventi
October 30, 2016
The next U.S. supreme justice will be decided by the next U.S. president. However, our views of who should be the next U.S. supreme court justice should not sway our vote for who should be president. (Flickr Chinesejudge)
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