Module 4 (part 1)

Why does the Supreme Court Justice position matter?   

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It's truly a shame to have lost Supreme Court  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I send nothing but love and peace to the family. 

Now let's get down to some business. As of now, there is widespread controversy surrounding RBG's replacement and both Democrats and Republicans are stressed about the matter. But before we tackle that debacle, let us understand the process of selecting a Supreme Court Justice. 

To become a Supreme Court Justice is a lot simpler than we think: the sitting president will nominate a person and the Senate will vote on the matter...that's it 😑.  Now seeing that this process was so simple, I was curious to see what would even qualify a person to hold such a position. According to the supreme court website: 

                "The Constitution does not specify qualifications for Justices such as age, education, profession, or native-born citizenship. A Justice does not have to be a lawyer or a law school graduate, but all Justices have been trained in the law. Many of the 18th and 19th century Justices studied law under a mentor because there were few law schools in the country." 

Now I'm a little concerned at the fact that the qualifications are loose when it comes to being a Justice (and if that's the case, somebody please nominate me, I have a great moral compass!). However, I believe that's the beauty of it as well, meaning that a Justice can come from any walk of life and bring an interesting point to a case. But I digress. 

What makes RBG replacement so controversial? 

There are a couple of factors that are drawing controversy to the matter: For starters, Democrats and some of the general public are pointing to the fact that we are less than 40 days away from an election —It would be wrong to nominate a new Justice so close to the election. Especially, considering that during Obama's run for Presidency, Republicans refused to allow for Obama to even nominate a candidate. They wanted to wait until the election was finished. So, people are rightfully upset about the hypocrisy. 

Secondly, Trump has nominated Amy Bennet Cooper—a Lawyer, former professor of law from Notre Dame University, and now a judge who sits on the federal appeals court for the Seventh Circuit. If Cooper is voted to be the next Justice, this would make the US Supreme Court a highly conservative body. An article from NPR stated:  

                    

        "Democratic senators have highlighted her conservative Catholic roots and warned she could offer a decisive vote to overturn the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade...Barrett signed a public statement against the Affordable Care Act's birth-control benefit in 2012 and five years later, she wrote a paper in which she criticized John Roberts' decision to uphold the ACA's penalty as a tax, reasoning that the chief justice had pushed the law known as Obamacare "beyond its plausible meaning to save the statute." 

So as we can see, Democrats and citizens alike are worried that a conservative filled Supreme Court would either role back on past legislation (such as Roe V. Wade) or block the possibility of progressive-leaning matters enacted by the courts. 

For the next blog post, I will discuss what has been said in the by Democrats and Republicans, an analysis of the situation as a whole, and my own personal view on everything!