Why are judicial nominations so controversial




















Johnson, also faced little Senate opposition to his judicial choices: All but two of his confirmed judges were approved on a voice vote. The Senate can register its opposition to nominees in other ways, such as by not voting on a nominee at all. Dozens of others are awaiting votes in the Senate.

In addition to having a Senate controlled by his own party, his court nominees need only a simple majority — rather than 60 votes — to advance to the floor, following rules changes in and The rising discord in the federal judicial nominations process has been catalogued in other ways.

For example, the amount of time that judicial nominees have waited for a confirmation vote in the Senate has grown significantly.

In times of uncertainty, good decisions demand good data. Please support our research with a financial contribution. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values.

Even in a polarized era, the survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions. Pew Research Center now uses as the last birth year for Millennials in our work. President Michael Dimock explains why. The vast majority of U. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics. Ulysses S. Grant was much more successful than Tyler at filling vacancies on the Supreme Court.

This was during Reconstruction , when Black men were exercising their right to vote and winning seats in Congress for the first time. After Reconstruction ended in , southern white men seized political power again by preventing Black men from voting, and in the process pushed out Black Republicans who had won seats in Congress during Reconstruction.

He went back to Congress between and , first retaking his old House seat and then joining the Senate. Lamar served on the court until his death in Judge Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr. After winning the presidency in , Nixon nominated two men for the Supreme Court who each had a history of supporting segregation. The first one, Clement Haynsworth Jr. In a related, vote, the judges ruled that no alternative method of recount could be set up in a timely manner, which meant Republican contender George W.

Bush won in Florida, giving him the winning votes in the Electoral College over his marginally more popular opponent. For the past two years, following the retirement of conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy in , Chief Justice John Roberts has been the pivotal figure on the court, but his position of influence will be weakened if a Trump candidate replaces Ginsburg.

At the ideological centre of the nine-member court, Roberts has had the option of siding with the four liberal justices to his left or four conservatives to his right to secure a majority opinion. Roberts, known as a defender of the court as an institution and champion of the judiciary as an independent branch of government, sided with Ginsburg and the court's other three liberals in key cases.

Roberts has, on occasion, sought compromises in big cases, sometimes to the dismay of his more conservative colleagues. In June, he helped strike down a restrictive Louisiana abortion law and thwarted Trump's bid to rescind protections for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants dubbed "Dreamers" who entered the United States as children. In July, for example, he wrote both decisions as the court ruled that a New York prosecutor could try to obtain Trump's financial records but prevented Democratic-led House of Representatives committees from immediately getting similar documents.

Shortly before Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, she made a request about what should happen to her seat on the Supreme Court. If you'd like some expert background on an issue or a news event, drop us a line at explainers smh. Read more explainers here. Why is there so much controversy over the US Supreme Court? Please try again later. The Sydney Morning Herald. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size.

There are three crucial factors driving this partisanship. What does it take to confirm a nominee? Are nominations always so controversial?

How might a change of judge change the United States? Two words: abortion rights. Let us explain If you'd like some expert background on an issue or a news event, drop us a line at explainers smh.

License this article. Heath Gilmore is a journalist. Connect via Twitter or email.



0コメント

  • 1000 / 1000