CONGRESS - SCOTUS appointment case studies Flashcards
Has there been an increasing politicisation of SCOTUS?
increasing partisanship has meant that appointments to SCOTUS have become more politicised.
YES there has!
Merick Garland nomination 2016
March - Obama nominated Garland as a SC justice to fill the death of Antonin Scalin.
the Republican majority in the Senate refused to hear his nomination and didn’t give him any hearings.
Maj Senate leader Mitch McConnell argued that congress should wait until a new elected president picks a SC role because it was an election year.
Neil Gorsuch nomination 2017
this was the nominee put forward by Trump, as McConnell outlined, it was no longer an election year.
Trump used the ‘nuclear option’ to stop the Democrat filibuster = this changed how many votes were needed to confirm SCOTUS appointments (from 60, down to 51, which is a simple majority)
54-45 vote in favour of Gorsuch
Hypocrisy of Republicans in looking at SCOTUS appointments
SEPTEMBER 2020 - Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett’s SCOTUS nomination to fill the vacancy of RBG - this was obviously an election year.
This was 35 days before the election - the shortest amount of time between an election and SCOTUS nomination.
Amy Coney Barrett in the Senate Judiciary Hearing
she assured the Senate Judiciary Committee that she has no political agenda and she declined answering questions about her beliefs on abortion or on other political issues.
the SJC was composed of 12 Reps and 10 Dems which makes up the Senate party divide.
she said she believes in the fundamentality of the rule of law.
Amy Coney Barrett Senate confirmation
there were 52 yays and 48 nays.
the Dems boycotted but didn’t actively denounce Barrett because they would lose the election if they went after a catholic, multi-racial, family woman.
Brett Kavanaugh confirmation
background info
Anthony Kennedy dies and Kavanaugh is nominated by Trump in 2018 to replace him.
Brett Kavanaugh confirmation
Dr Christine Blasey Ford + controversy
she testified before the SJC in Sep 2018 over sexual abuse allegations against Kavanaugh during his SCOTUS confirmation process.
she accused him of grinding and touching her, believing she would be raped by him.
Brett Kavanaugh confirmation
partisanship evidence
the entire nomination became very polarised, with Mr Lindsay Graham, Rep Senator and member of the SJC, arguing that the Dems didn’t like the candidate prior to the sexual assault allegations.
he claimed the the Dems knew about the sexual assault for 20 days but didn’t offer Brett the opportunity to do anything to defend himself.
Graham: ‘If you wanted an FBI investigation, you should have come to us… what you want to do… is hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020’
Kavanaugh’s team handed over 42,000 documents to the Dems LESS than 15 hours before the hearing so they didn’t have enough time to go through it all.
