U.S. Supreme Court
Kennedy, Alito Fail to Make Candidates’ Lists of Least-Favorite Justices
Posted Aug 18, 2008, 11:42 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Asked to name their least favorite U.S. Supreme Court justices, Barack Obama first picked Justice Clarence Thomas while John McCain picked the court’s four liberals.
The candidates gave their answers in response to a question Saturday by evangelical Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church.
Obama gave this reason for his dislike of Thomas, Fox News reports: “I don’t think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation. Setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretation of a lot of the Constitution.”
Obama also said he would not have nominated Antonin Scalia "because he and I just disagree,” the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Chief Justice John G. Roberts also made his least-liked list, the Associated Press reports.
Obama is taking heat for his responses from some conservatives, including Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network. “Like other liberal elites, Obama cannot stand it when a black man strays from the ideological plantation and refuses to implement liberal policies through the courts,” Long said in a statement.
John McCain said he would not have nominated Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, David H. Souter and John Paul Stevens.
Neither candidate named Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, sometimes considered the court's swing voter, or newcomer Samuel A. Alito Jr.
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