Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Sen. Kyl Threatens Filibuster of Court Nominations:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_02-2008_11_08.shtml#1226162611
The [1]Phoenix Buisness Journal reports that Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
warned that he would attempt to filibuster any Supreme Court
nominations that he deemed too liberal.
Kyl, Arizona�s junior senator, expects Obama to appoint judges in
the mold of U.S Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David
Souter and Stephen Breyer. Those justices take a liberal view on
cases related to social, law and order and business issues, Kyl
said.
�He believes in justices that have empathy,� said Kyl, . . .
Kyl said if Obama goes with empathetic judges who do not base their
decisions on the rule of law and legal precedents but instead the
factors in each case, he would try to block those picks via
filibuster. . . .
Kyl said Obama needs to appoint judges that look at the merits of
each case and said filibusters were not inevitable, even for more
liberal judges if their decisions have a sound legal basis.
[[2]LvHA]
As longtime VC readers know, I'm [3]generally opposed to the
obstruction of judicial nominees of either party. Even though Barack
Obama, as a Senator, voted to filibuster several Bush nominations
(including that of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court), I do not
believe this justifies Republicans responding in kind.
While I oppose the filibuster of judicial nominees, one practical
benefit of a Republican filibuster of an Obama nominee could be the
end of judicial filibusters. If Republicans were able to hold their
caucus together, perhaps Senate Democrats would be prompted to cut a
deal promising to forego any judicial filibusters in the future.
Alternatively, perhaps a GOP filibuster would prompt Senate Democrats
to invoke the nuclear option, ending judicial filibusters once and for
all. Indeed, I would feel better about any GOP filibuster threats if
filibustering GOP senators would commit to voting to support the
nuclear option if it were invoked. In this way, GOP Senators could
maintain a principled opposition to the filibuster of judicial
nominations without unilaterally disarming themselves against Senate
Democrats (and a President) who have supported such filibusters in the
past.
References
1. http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/11/03/daily77.html
2. http://howappealing.law.com/110708.html#031044
3. http://volokh.com/posts/1221343372.shtml
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