Supreme Court Nominations

Ginsburg thinks ‘cooler heads will prevail’ in Senate that refuses to vote on Garland nomination

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told Georgetown University law students on Wednesday that she hoped “cooler heads will prevail” in a Senate that has so far refused to vote on the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland. Ginsburg spoke in response to a student question about whether there is any “valid…

Sep 8, 2016 10:32 AM CDT

Harry Reid has a plan to force action on Garland nomination; lawsuit has the same goal

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says he has a plan to show Americans’ “absolute disgust” with the Senate’s failure to act on the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland. Reid said on Tuesday that he will object to committee meetings until the Judiciary Committee schedules a meeting to consider…

Sep 7, 2016 9:17 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: What will the presidential election mean for SCOTUS?

Whether one identifies as Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, there is no issue more important in the coming election than who will fill the vacancies that are sure to exist on the Supreme Court in the next several years. That’s especially true if the next president serves two terms,…

Sep 6, 2016 8:45 AM CDT

Supreme Court has pushed back arguments in these cases

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear 10 cases in November, but earlier granted cases on the free exercise clause and regulatory takings are not among them. The Supreme Court usually schedules cases in roughly the same order as they were granted, and its decision to delay the cases could be…

Sep 6, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Calling Merrick Garland ‘a special case,’ retired justice recommended him for DC Circuit

Retired Supreme Court Justice William Brennan recommended Merrick Garland for a federal appellate judgeship in a 1995 letter to President Bill Clinton, according to a document released on Wednesday. Brennan said in the letter that he had had more than 100 law clerks “and Merrick is one of the best,”…

Aug 5, 2016 7:30 AM CDT

What happens to judicial nominees who never get a vote? Some take a big financial hit

Congress has entered its summer recess without acting on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, along with 49 others nominated to lower federal courts. Will they get a vote? Russell Wheeler, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution who tracks nominations, expects the number will be “pretty paltry” because…

Jul 19, 2016 9:37 AM CDT

Obama op-ed: Inaction on Merrick Garland nomination is ‘an unprecedented escalation’

President Barack Obama sees a slippery slope in the Senate’s inaction on his Supreme Court nominee. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Obama says the consequences of refusing an up-or-down vote on nominee Merrick Garland “could weaken our most important institutions, erode public trust and undermine our democracy.”…

Jul 18, 2016 12:31 PM CDT

Ginsburg on Trump: ‘I don’t even want to contemplate’ his potential effect on the Supreme Court

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is praising Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland but expressing much less enthusiasm for Donald Trump. In an interview, Ginsburg offered “an unequivocal endorsement of Garland,” the New York Times reports. “I think he is about as well qualified as any nominee to this court,” she said…

Jul 11, 2016 9:10 AM CDT

Supreme Fiction: 10 novels to get your mind off the Supreme Court nomination standoff

At the U.S. Supreme Court, a single vote can alter the outcome of the country’s most hot-button disputes—abortion, affirmative action, campaign finance, gun control and immigration, to name a few. So it’s no surprise that within minutes of the announcement of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, members of Congress began drawing…

Jul 1, 2016 3:10 AM CDT

If confirmed, Merrick Garland might be the wealthiest Supreme Court justice

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland is worth at least $7.6 million and possibly as much as $25 million, which might make him the wealthiest justice if he were confirmed to the court. Among the current justices, the wealthiest is Stephen G. Breyer, who is worth between $6.1 million and…

Jun 24, 2016 7:30 AM CDT

Merrick Garland gets ABA’s ‘well-qualified’ rating; ABA president calls for Senate action

Updated: U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland has received a well-qualified rating by the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. The committee concluded that Garland is “a pre-eminent member of the legal profession with outstanding legal ability and exceptional breadth of experience,” according to an ABA press release. In…

Jun 21, 2016 9:59 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: These two decisions highlight how Scalia’s absence has affected the court

As the U.S. Supreme Court enters the last month of its term, the impact of having only eight justices already is clear. Some of the most high-profile cases of the year are not being decided, or perhaps even worse, are being resolved on narrow grounds that create more confusion than…

Jun 2, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Eight isn’t enough, Justice Ginsburg says

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg remarked on the drawbacks of the unfilled vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court at a judicial conference on Thursday. “Eight, as you know, is not a good number for a multi-member court,” Ginsburg said in her prepared remarks (PDF) at the conference for the New York-based…

May 27, 2016 6:54 AM CDT

Supreme Court may or may not split 4-4 in a handful of cases, Breyer says

In an appearance on Monday, Justice Stephen G. Breyer steered clear of the debate over confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. But he did address the possibility of additional 4-4 decisions on the eight-member court. Addressing questions after an awards ceremony, Breyer said the vacancy created by the…

May 24, 2016 10:38 AM CDT

Trump releases his list of Supreme Court picks; five are state supreme court justices

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has released a list of 11 people he would consider for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat vacated by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The list, published by the Associated Press, includes five state supreme court justices, the Washington Post…

May 18, 2016 2:06 PM CDT