Justice O'Connor Retires

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement from the high court today. Of all the justices, Justice O’Connor aroused my interest the most. Perhaps it was due to her position as a swing vote on sensitive constitutional questions. Her pragmatic attitude towards the interpretation of the constitution is something that I both appreciated and hated.

Areas in which she sided with the liberals were on partial birth abortion and affirmative action. In one of her opinions she coined the phrase “evolving standards of decency.” Those words are a double edged sword where on the positive the court can reflect the changing attitudes of society (death penalty for minors), or it can be used as a vehicle to enshrine unpopular, ideological views into law. It could read more into what the constitution says (the right to privacy) or brings up things that the constitution was never intended to mean.

When I was taking Constitutional Law, most of the students there were decidedly liberal. And on more than one occasion I heard outbursts of how conservative SCOTUS is. It was some of the most ridiculous things I had ever heard. Granted, the majority of justices on the bench were nominated by republican presidents, but they have, in large part, been a disappointment. Justices Kennedy and Souter are probably the biggest disappointment as they drifted leftward. As a result, many of the important decisions that have been handed down of late has actually been liberal which is why President Bush is expected to try and put in a true, hard conservative. If successful, he would tip the court back to a conservative stance. But even so, I seriously doubt that decisions such as Roe v. Wade (abortion), Lawrence v. Texas (homosexual rights), and Grutter v. Bollinger (affirmative action) would be overturned. In fact, one of the judges on the nomination short list has publicly said that he would use stare decisis. I believe that the successor of Justice O'Connor would use the same approach.

The confirmation process is going to be ugly. Senator Kennedy (D-MA) has already gotten into his fighting stance. Can somebody get him a steak? Have a heart attack already Kennedy! The democrats are not going to accept anyone that President Bush nominates--even if they seem to be cut from the same cloth as Justices Kennedy and Souter. If they were to get a nominee that is similar to O'Connor, I'm betting they would still fight it.