The Appointments Process

Question 1

How are judges appointed?

Answer 1

Chosen by the president

Confirmed by the senate with a simple majority

Question 2

How long are judges in place?

Answer 2

Until retirement or death

They can also be impeached

This means appointments are important to Presidents as they hope their choices will allow an echo chamber in the court

Question 3

What salaries do you pay justices?

Answer 3

We don’t know but the salary is not to be reduced while in office

Question 4

Who did Obama try to appoint to Scalia’s seat? What happened?

Answer 4

Merrick Garland a moderate judge

Republican senators refused to hold hearings until after the presidential election

Although a nomination had never happened in an election year before some think the nomination was stolen from Obama

Question 5

Which President made no appointments?

Answer 5

Carter

Question 6

Where can Presidents seek advice on appointments?

Answer 6

Political advisors

Key Congress members

Senate Judiciary Committee

American Bar Association (ABA)
-democrats tend to do this

Question 7

What are the pools of recruitment for the Supreme Court?

Answer 7

FEDERAL COURT OF APPEALS

• one tier below SCOTUS
• 8 of the current justices from this court

STATE COURTS
-Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor who was on the Arizona state court of appeals.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
-Kagan was solicitor General at the department of justice before she jointed SCOTUS

Question 8

What happens once a shortlist for nominees is drawn up?

Answer 8

FBI background checks

President personally interviews 2 or 3 finalists

Announcement

ABA standing committee on the federal judiciary gives a rating. Either ‘well qualified’, ‘qualified’ or ‘not qualified’

Question 9

Which is the only SCOTUS justice who wasn’t given an ABA rating of ‘well qualified’?

Answer 9

Clarence Thomas

He was only given ‘qualified’ although some on the ABA standing committee wanted to give him a ‘not qualified’ rating

Question 10

Name a Supreme Court nominee who withdrew due to harsh questioning by the Senate?

Answer 10

Harriet Miers

A Bush nominee, people were unconvinced of her ideological credentials

Question 11

What happens at the Senate Judiciary questioning?

Answer 11

The nominee is questioned and the committee vote.

The vote doesn’t mean anything but is a guideline as to how the senate will vote in general.

Question 12

Which nominee was defeated in the Senate Judiciary committee and later in the Senate?

Answer 12

Robert Bork 1987

he was too conservative and had watergate associations however he was one of the best judicial scholars

Womens organisations went against him and $15 million was spent on a campaign against him

Question 13

Which justice had a 7-7 vote in the Senate judiciary committee and only got through the Senate by four votes?

Answer 13

Thomas

Question 14

Which justice got a unanimous approval by the Senate Judiciary committee and a 96-3 approval on the senate floor?

Answer 14

The notorious RBG

Question 15

What majority is required in the senate to approve a judicial appointment?

Answer 15

A simple one

Question 16

Name three appointments that were rejected?

Answer 16

Robert Bork 1987

Clement Haynesworth 1969

Harrold Carswell 1970

All in an unfriendly senate

Question 17

Why could republicans not protest the nomination of Sotomayor?

Answer 17

She was Hispanic and Republicans did not want to upset Hispanic voters

Sotomayor would not change the philosophical balance of the court as Souter was also a moderate liberal. Like for like replacement is less controversial

Question 18

What did Sotomayor say in her appointment process that questions the concept that nominees are echo chambers of their president?

Answer 18

‘I wouldn’t approach the issue of judging the way the President does. Judges can’t rely on what’s in their heart. The job of a judge is to apply the law.’

this went against Obama’s belief that justices should listen to their heart

beings into question the idea of the court being an echo chamber

Question 19

How are appointments politicised?

Answer 19

Presidents select nominees with similar ideologies

Clinton picked Breyer and Ginsburg, arguably two of the most liberal justices

Senate politicised
Clarence Thomas, only 2 Rs voted against and 11 Dems for

Question 20

What is the litmus test of justices?

Answer 20

look at past controversial cases such as those on abortion, affirmative action or capital punishment. The president tries to pick a liberal or conservative judge based on their own politics

Question 21

Why did the Senate not question Thomas well enough?

Answer 21

focused on allegations of sexual harassment and not his rubbish qualifications

ended up being a nomination split on party lines

Question 22

How does questioning differ for the presidents party and opposition in the Senate judiciary committee?

Answer 22

president’s party ask soft questions (Gorsuch Ted Cruz asked ‘would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses or one horse sized duck?’

the opposition take out a search and destroy mission, tying to attack and embarrass the nominee

Question 23

What happened with Alito’s nomination?

Answer 23

justices being confirmed on party lines is an indicator of a polarised process

not a single Democrat in the senate judiciary committee voted to recommend Alito’s confirmation, on the senate floor only four democrats tried to confirm him

even the Washington Post, a left of centre paper thought he should be confirmed

Question 24

Why was Bork not being appointed bad?

Answer 24

he was well qualified, a scholar

Question 25

How did the media politicise Thomas’s appointment?

Answer 25

lurid allegations of sexual misconduct

Question 26

Why are supreme court nominations important?

Answer 26

only come up every few years

outlast the president significantly

only 9 members and therefore a new member is one ninth of the courts membership- influential

court is powerful, judicial review affects americans in important ways.

Question 27

Explain the switch in time that saved nine?

Answer 27

FDR proposes packing the court as he is tired of seeing New deal legislation being chipped away at. (he can do this as it doesn’t say int eh constitution that there must be nine)

This threat makes the court uphold a minimum wage in a case

Question 28

What happened with the nomination of Gorsuch?

Answer 28

Scalia ( a very conservative judge) dies while Obama is in office and Obama tries to replace him with moderate Merrick Garland, this would have changed the makeup of the court.

This happened in 2016 and as it was an election year the Republican controlled Senate argued that because the Presidency was expected to change hands Obama did not have the right to make the appointment. Most Democrats see this as ‘stealing the seat’

In a highly political action, the senate Republicans refused to hold hearings for Garland, let alone vote to reject or confirm the appointment.

Trump wins the presidency, partly due to hopes for a conservative supreme court pick. He nominates Gorsuch, a very conservative judge (Frozen trucker case). Gorsuch received the highest ABA rating like Garland and his hearing was full of friendly questioning ‘horse ducks’

Senate Democrats tried to filibuster so Mitch McConnel extended the nuclear option meaning that appointments can not be filibustered. Gorsuch passes 54-45 with 3 Democrats voting for him and one Republican abstaining due to surgery

Question 29

How many dems voted to confirm Gorsuch?

Answer 29

4