Wednesday, November 13, 2002
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Wednesday, November 13, 2002 |
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Supreme Court changes ahead?
By MONROE
ROARK In the wake of last week's stunning election results across the country, it's a safe bet that Capitol Hill won't be the only place going through some changes relatively soon. Another part of Washington could see a few new faces, ones that would likely be around for decades. You'll never hear it from them directly until it's a done deal, but there almost certainly has been some retirement talk at the Supreme Court in the past few days. Rumors and speculation have floated around for several years, as some of the high court's members get on up in years, but the new Congress that's on the way changes everything. The average age of the nine current Supreme Court justices is 68.2 years. The youngest is Clarence Thomas, who is 54. From there, in order of youth, it's David Souter (63), Stephen Breyer (64), Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia (both 66), Ruth Bader Ginsberg (69), Sandra Day O'Connor (72), William Rehnquist (78), and John Paul Stevens (82). Chief Justice Rehnquist has served the longest on the court, appointed by President Nixon in 1972 as an associate justice before rising to the top spot under Reagan in 1986. It has been widely speculated that he has thought often of stepping down but did not want Bill Clinton or another liberal president to name his successor, especially with a Democratic-controlled Senate. As one of the three most conservative justices (along with Scalia and Thomas), he has seen too many 5-4 rulings to take any chances. Another rumored retiree is O'Connor, a Reagan appointee who is conservative to moderate, depending upon the issue. With a few health problems in her recent past, she could also take an opportunity to step down if she shares Rehnquist's concerns about her successor. Stevens, on the other hand, is the most liberal member of the court and would never willingly cede his seat to President Bush and a Republican-controlled Senate. But at 82, anything can happen. One of the top priorities of the Republican leadership in the upcoming Congress will be to get moving on the 50 or so nominees for various federal judgeships around the country that have been stalled the past two years by top Democrats. But make no mistake, President Bush is also making a list of potential Supreme Court candidates in the event of a change there as well. Clinton made two appointments, Ginsberg and Breyer, in the early days of his presidency, with both coming before the 1994 midterm elections that put both houses of Congress back under GOP leadership for a while. The current eight-year gap since Breyer's appointment is the longest stint without a change on the Supreme Court since 1823. All of the Supreme Court's cases have wide-ranging ramifications, even if they are not as widely hyped in the media as the 2000 election aftermath or some other hot-button topic such as abortion. Two of the top cases on the 2002-03 docket concern ownership of copyrights and wireless airwaves, which may not sound exciting but can mean billions of dollars to the winners and losers in each case, not to mention the effect on the American economy. There is no doubt that the court will continue to have a huge impact on issues that millions of Americans hold dear. A case scheduled for the current term challenges the constitutionality of sex offender registries and statutes similar to Megan's Law, and with the recent media climate relating to kidnapped children, that is bound to be an extremely emotional issue. And there will always be cases addressing religious freedom and other First Amendment issues, which are of utmost importance to people of faith in this country. Should any campaign finance reform law be passed by Congress, you can count on a First Amendment challenge almost immediately. There is no way to accurately depict the impact of the Supreme Court in this small space. Suffice it to say that any future appointments to the high court by George W. Bush could be the most important decisions of his presidency, and with both houses of Congress under Republican control, there's no better time than the present. Don't be surprised if one or two retirement parties wind up on the Supreme Court's agenda by 2003. [Monroe Roark's Web address is www.mroark.com.]
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