Ifill on Supreme Court needs
posted by Kaimipono D. Wenger
Much of the Stevens discussion I’ve read seems to repeat the same half-dozen ideas again and again. Sherrilyn Ifill is a refreshing exception — she just posted a fascinating list of under-examined potential factors for consideration — some Supreme Court gaps or needs, broadly speaking. Why should the President think about appointing a Protestant to the Court, or perhaps a military veteran? Check out Sherrilyn’s article to find out.
April 11, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Posted in: Current Events, Supreme Court
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Responses (12)
Orin Kerr - April 11, 2010 at 11:45 pm
From the article, on why the Supreme Court needs another African-American Justice in addition to Clarence Thomas:
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[T]hat Thomas’ views are at odds with the vast majority of the black community – and maybe even the white community -makes his status as “the black justice” dubious as a symbol of inclusion.
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Wow.
Nero - April 12, 2010 at 9:57 am
Here’s a different view:
Does Next Supreme Court Justice Work Across the Street From the President?
Overlooked by most reports on the next U.S. Supreme Court justice are two highly qualified and politically effective choices who are literally across the street from the president: Judge William C. Bryson and Judge Timothy B. Dyk, both of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. And each of them worked for Supreme Court justices whom President Obama has described as personal heroes, says Matthew J. Dowd of Wiley Rein LLP.
http://www.wileyrein.com/publications.cfm?sp=articles&id=6007
http://appellate.law360.com/
Morgan - April 12, 2010 at 10:08 am
Might I suggest another fascinating retrospective on Supreme Court rulings that I found online: http://lawblog.legalmatch.com/2010/04/08/the-last-100-years-of-the-supreme-court/
The author takes a very interesting look at the forward thinking rulings of our country’s highest court.
Maryland Conservatarian - April 12, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Mr. Kerr merely highlighted the most eye-rolling of her observations. Her piece is “refreshing” only in that she is honest about her biases and stereotyping.
…and she does know that the Supreme Court is not a representative body, doesn’t she?
jtanner - April 12, 2010 at 3:33 pm
The Supreme Court is not a representative body in the sense that Congress and other legislative bodies are — or should be representative; but as with decisional bodies generally, its decisions would benefit from having a breadth of experieince represented among the decision-makers. At present, the Court represents an incredibly limited range of experience. The Court would benefit most, I think, from having a Justice who actually had run for office and been held responsible by the voters for her performance. Perhaps a Justice from Congress would not be so quick to read section 5 of the 15th and section 2 of the 15th out of the Constitution. The court also would benefit from a Justice with recent experience in litigating cases, civil or criminal. I agree with Prof Ifill that a more typical or representative African American perspective would help the Court, as would Justices with perspectives more rooted in other regions of the United States.
John
Orin Kerr - April 12, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Jtanner, oh, I agree the Court would benefit from different experiences:
http://volokh.com/posts/1241726065.shtml
Maryland Conservatarian - April 13, 2010 at 9:21 am
jtanner writes: ” I agree with Prof Ifill that a more typical or representative African American perspective would help the Court, as would Justices with perspectives more rooted in other regions of the United States.”
I take it you don’t think Justice Thomas qualifies on the diversity scorecard? Exactly what African-American or rooted-in-other-region “perspective” do you believe Justice Thomas is lacking?
While Justice Thomas probably grew up much poorer than most African-Americans today (and certainly poorer than the rest of his counterparts on the Court), I’m guessing such childhood poverty would not be considered inconsequential if attached to a different African-American. And he is the ONLY member of the Court to have grown up in the South.
Or did you instead mean a more typical and represenative political leaning?
jtanner - April 13, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Md Conservative –
I was refering to diversity of outlook and experience rather than diversity of race. That said, Justice Thomas unquestionably is a diverse voice — he often is a lone dissenter. He certainly has had very adverse experiences in his life, and he appears to have reacted to those experiences in a highly distinctive way. I grant that his viewpoint represents that of much of the South, and it is interesting that seeing him as the Southern “representive” on the Court may make much more sense than to see him as an African American “representative.” (That would be the current South rather than the old South; I’m not throwing stones.) There is a separate cluster of perspectives held by a large majority of the African Americans in the US. Most have reacted to their own experiences in a much different way than Justice Thomas, and this additional, differing weltanshauung would be welcome (to me) on the Court — especially if combined with the various backgrounds of Prof. Kerr’s ideal albeit elderly candidate.
b2s - April 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm
“While Justice Thomas probably grew up much poorer than most African-Americans today ”
No he didn’t. Thomas grew up solidly middle class. And definitely was better off than most other blacks in Georgia.
Maryland Conservatarian - April 14, 2010 at 10:22 am
thank you, jtanner, you write:
“There is a separate cluster of perspectives held by a large majority of the African Americans in the US. Most have reacted to their own experiences in a much different way than Justice Thomas, and this additional, differing weltanshauung would be welcome (to me) on the Court”
That reads to me that what you really want is not so much the life experiences available to the Court but the (stereotypical) reaction to them – in other words, a reliable vote to join with Justices Ginsburg, Breyer and Sotomayor.
b2s: From the Oyez Project:
“Clarence Thomas was born on June 23, 1948, in Pin Point, Georgia. The second child and first son of M.C. Thomas and Leola Williams’ three children, Thomas spent most of his childhood without his father who abandoned the family early in Thomas’s life. Thomas grew up in poverty. The Pin Point community he lived in lacked a sewage system and paved roads. Its inhabitants dwelled in destitution and earned but a few cents each day performing manual labor. Thomas’s mother tried hard to take care of Thomas and his brother and sister. She worked as a maid and collected from church charities to support her family. At age seven, Thomas’ mother decided to remarry after the family’s wooden house burned to the ground. Thomas’s mother sent him and his brother to live with their grandfather, Myers Anderson, in Savannah. Life with his grandfather introduced Thomas to better days which included regular meals and indoor plumbing.”
Now granted, at the rate we’re going, that may very well be “solidly middle class” in a few more years…
b2s - April 14, 2010 at 12:29 pm
You need to actually read a thomas biography and not quote websites. Thomas’s formative years where in savannah where he went to private schools. His grandfather was a prominent black businessman and many of his black friends thought he was well off including one who said Thomas was “rich.”
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