US Supreme Court Vacancy
What you need to know about the Supreme
Court vacancy:
With the passing of Justice
Antonin Scalia, there is now a vacancy that must be filled on the Supreme Court
-- and President Obama has a Constitutional responsibility to nominate someone
to take his place.
The Supreme Court is a vital
institution of American democracy and, since the founding of our country, the
President of the United States has had the responsibility to appoint a Justice
to the Supreme Court every time -- and any time -- there is a vacancy on the
bench. It then falls to the United States Senate to confirm that nominee before
he or she can take her seat on our nation's highest court.
The confirmation of a Supreme
Court Justice is a solemn responsibility that the President and the Senate
share under the U.S. Constitution. It is not a political opportunity that
reflects "left" or "right," Democrat or Republican. It's a
serious obligation to make sure that an indisputably qualified person of
integrity is nominated and confirmed to sit on the highest court in the land.
The President plans to offer
his nominee for the Supreme Court to the Senate -- and the Senate has more than
enough time to confirm that nominee.
Here
are the facts:
FACT:
Six Justices have been confirmed in a presidential election year since 1900.
For
more than two centuries, it has been standard practice for Congress to confirm
a president’s Supreme Court nominee, whether in a presidential election year or
not. Of the six justices confirmed since 1900, three have been Republicans. The
most recent Justice to be confirmed in an election year was Justice Kennedy --
appointed by President Reagan -- who was confirmed by a Democratic-controlled
Congress in February of 1988.
FACT:
Every nominee has received a vote within 125 days of nomination.
Since
1975, the average time from nomination to confirmation is 67 days. In fact,
since 1875, every nominee has received a hearing or a vote. The longest time
before confirmation in the past three decades was 99 days, for Justice Thomas,
and the last four Justices, spanning two Administrations, were confirmed in an
average of 75 days.
The
Senate has almost a full year -- more than 300 days -- to consider and confirm
a nominee.
FACT:
It will be harmful and create unsustainable uncertainty if Congress fails to
act on the President's nominee.
The
Supreme Court could go the better part of two Terms with a vacancy if the
Senate rejects its Constitutional responsibility. It'd be unprecedented for the
Court to go that long with an empty seat. Here's why it's harmful:
The
Court’s 4-4 decisions have no value in establishing precedent on which future
decisions can rely. They also cannot establish uniform nationwide rules. That
means if multiple courts ruled differently on an issue before it arose at the
Supreme Court, a 4-4 ruling would leave those different rules in place in
different states. The result is an unsustainable uncertainty -- for the law,
for individual liberties, and for our economy.
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