Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring-Kavanaugh Nominated

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MTT TL

New member
Thats twice now I've been happy Trump won the election. We would have been up the creek without a paddle. He needs to get on it right away.
 
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vicGT

New member
It's going to get serious. There will be crushing pressure on Senators.

IIRC, the nuclear option was used for Gorsuch....does it remain in effect? Can the Republicans get Trump's pick onto SCOTUS with just a simple majority?
 
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Gary L. Griffiths

New member
I've always thought that he was the primary reason for the cautionary language in Heller and it is likely that his unwillingness to go further than Heller and McDonald was the reason the Court has not granted cert. on several recent seemingly obvious 2nd Amendment infringement cases. It will be interesting to see what happens the next time an "assault weapon" ban or "cause for issue" case works it's way up to the Court. :D
 
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vicGT

New member
Gary L. Griffiths said:
I've always thought that he was the primary reason for the cautionary language in Heller and it is likely that his unwillingness to go further than Heller and McDonald was the reason the Court has not granted cert. on several recent seemingly obvious 2nd Amendment infringement cases.
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May I ask your reasons for thinking this? I've never seen anything attributing that language to Kennedy, but a number of people seem to feel as you do, and I'm wondering how you came to feel that way.
 
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zukiphile

New member
Now we just need a few more of the liberal justices to retire or expire so we can stack the deck further.
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That mechanism works both ways. Thomas is old and carries too much weight. Breyer is old, but seems to be going strong. Kagan and Sotomayor are relatively young.
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
I wouldn't count my eggs before they're cracked.

"Stacking the deck" hasn't worked out so well, more than once in just the last few decades, even when the sitting POTUS is.... intellectually inclined... and his choice was confirmed. Frankly, I don't trust Trump to make an acceptable (by my definition) choice, nor do I trust that the choice will turn out to BE acceptable, even if I thought he would and they "appeared" to be. Wolf in sheeps clothing, chameleons and all that.

However, it simply can't be worse than the alternative would have been... I think.
 
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Glenn E. Meyer

New member
For my focus, I would want a Justice who is proactive and strong for gun rights. The current Alito, Roberts pairing are not. Kennedy was not strong.

Other political causes and undoing this or that social issue - I'm opposed or of secondary interest. If that is the focus of GOP nominations, I would be very disappointed.

Eliminating the threat to impose NY, CA, etc. weapons ban, eliminating bans of concealed carry and making it clear states have to issue quickly and cheaply - these are things that should be taken up. However, I think Alito and Roberts aren't so inclined.
 
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SamNavy

New member
Ginsburg is 85 this year.
Breyer is 80 this year.
Both are Clinton appointments.

I have my conspiracy theories about why Kennedy would retire. I was under the assumption that most justices held onto the position as long as they were mentally able and had the physical capacity to make it to work everyday. Rehnquist in '05 dying of cancer while still sitting was suprising.

Still, the odds of retirement go up for both RBG and Breyer every month... the odds of either of them lasting through Trumps second term are very slim... RBG would be 91, and while she's beaten cancer twice, it's a helluva job to have.

I'm about 90/10 that we've got a 7:2 right-wing majority come 2024... which would be pretty huge for gun-rights for a few decades.

In any case, I'm sure we'll start hearing from certain news agencies (the same ones that want to eliminate the electoral college) that SC appointments shouldn't be for life, and blah blah blah...
 
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Glenn E. Meyer

New member
We really don't care in this discussion if we have a right wing or left wing majority. We care about the gun rights implications. Wandering from that and we close this one.
 
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vicGT

New member
Glenn E Meyer said:
Eliminating the threat to impose NY, CA, etc. weapons ban, eliminating bans of concealed carry and making it clear states have to issue quickly and cheaply - these are things that should be taken up. However, I think Alito and Roberts aren't so inclined.
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Glenn, are you allowed to share why you think Alito & Roberts would not be inclined to take up those issues?

And to clarify, do you mean they would vote against granting cert for such cases?
 
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JERRYS.

New member
they must be solid pro 2nd Amendment as an individual right. if so all else would seem to follow reasonably.....
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
Gary L. Griffiths said:
I've always thought that he was the primary reason for the cautionary language in Heller and it is likely that his unwillingness to go further than Heller and McDonald was the reason the Court has not granted cert. on several recent seemingly obvious 2nd Amendment infringement cases. It will be interesting to see what happens the next time an "assault weapon" ban or "cause for issue" case works it's way up to the Court.
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I agree on both points.

As to watching future cases -- Trump's next nomination is going to be crucial, and it's going to be important for those of us who have Republican senators (which doesn't include me) to keep the pressure on them to approve a conservative, originalist, strict constructionist nominee. None of that "resist," or "He's not MY president" crap.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
vicGT said:
Gary L. Griffiths said:
I've always thought that he was the primary reason for the cautionary language in Heller and it is likely that his unwillingness to go further than Heller and McDonald was the reason the Court has not granted cert. on several recent seemingly obvious 2nd Amendment infringement cases.
Click to expand...
May I ask your reasons for thinking this? I've never seen anything attributing that language to Kennedy, but a number of people seem to feel as you do, and I'm wondering how you came to feel that way.
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The language didn't come from Kennedy, it came from Scalia. But Scalia couldn't go farther than he did in Heller without seeing Kennedy jump ship and vote against the conservative side.
 
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