Justice Clarence Thomas, a reliable conservative vote on the
Supreme Court, is mulling retirement after the presidential election,
according to court watchers.
Thomas, appointed by former President George H.W. Bush and approved by the Senate after a bitter confirmation, has been considering retirement for a while and never planned to stay until he died, they said. He likes to spend summers in his RV with his wife.
His retirement would have a substantial impact on control of the court. The next president is expected to immediately replace the seat opened by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, providing a one-vote edge in the court that is currently divided 4-4.
Should Thomas leave, that slight majority would continue if Donald Trump becomes president. If it's Hillary Clinton, then she would get the chance to flip two Republican seats, giving the liberals a 6-3 majority.
Thomas, appointed by former President George H.W. Bush and approved by the Senate after a bitter confirmation, has been considering retirement for a while and never planned to stay until he died, they said. He likes to spend summers in his RV with his wife.
His retirement would have a substantial impact on control of the court. The next president is expected to immediately replace the seat opened by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, providing a one-vote edge in the court that is currently divided 4-4.
Should Thomas leave, that slight majority would continue if Donald Trump becomes president. If it's Hillary Clinton, then she would get the chance to flip two Republican seats, giving the liberals a 6-3 majority.
2 comments:
The article assumes that Hillary is a liberal when in fact, Hillary is to the right of Nixon.
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Hillary would nominate a pro-police state, pro-war, pro-corporate justice.
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Trump would likely do the same.
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While I would love to see another William O. Douglas on the court, it ain't gonna happen no matter which corporate warmongering party is in control of our government. Hillary is not FDR and today's Democrats are not the party of the New Deal.
Did it get by me that Obama has capitulated on the Scalia vacancy? Is that now a thing?
As for Thomas, he's been retired for years but keeps showing up for work.
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