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Harall Law School professor Randall Kennedy shocked the legal world in 2011 when he asked for the immediate retirement of two members of the U.S. Supreme Court’s liberal wing: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
Kennedy said it was “a responsible thing to do,” Kennedy argued in an essay in The New Republic that the septuagenarians – both nominated by Bill Clinton – should be sidelined, so then Democratic President Barack Obama could appoint younger Liberals to replace them. to the highest court in the nation for life.
They both ignored the call. Last year, Ginsburg he died The 87-year-old and his seat were filled by Donald Trump a few days earlier November presidential election With Amy Coney Barrette, changing the balance 6-3 in favor of the nine-member bank conservatives.
Now, with Democrats the lowest among the margins controlled by the White House and Senate, Breyer, 82, has new demands after nearly 27 years in court.
As the Supreme Court draws to a close, a campaign of public pressure has been aimed at, as it presents political challenges to President Joe Biden, starting with what the Progressives, the Conservative-dominated Supreme Court, decide. voting rights and weapons to affirmative action and abortion.
“We’ve seen the devastating consequences of rolling the dice, and that can’t be allowed to happen again,” said Tré Easton, a progressive Battle Born Collective team. “The GOP does not claim that the court is such an apolitical institution, and the left, progressives, democrats, cannot even pretend to be apolitical.”
Those calls have been shaken this week after Senate Majority Republican Mitch McConnell took control of the upper house in the middle of next year after suggesting that he would block the way for Biden to run in the next year. Supreme Court judges elect presidents, but demand a simple majority in the Senate.
McConnell he renounced the famous Obama to take on the nomination of Merrick Garland Obama to fill the post created by the death of Conservative Antonin Scalia in 2016, with Trump setting the stage for the election of Neil Gorsuch.
McConnell’s recent comments sparked outrage among progressives. “Anyone who still doubts that it could be a disaster when Stephen Breyer doesn’t retire should pay attention to Mitch McConnell,” said Brian Fallon, executive director of the left-wing group Demand Justice.
The Fallon team has led the “Breyer Retire” campaign advertising campaign and hiring an advertising truck to surround the courthouse with the following message: “Breyer, retire. It’s time for a black woman on the Supreme Court. There is no time to waste. ”
Some law scholars have joined, including Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the Berkley School of Law at the University of California, who wrote in a Washington Post. op-arg last month, Breyer “learned from Justice Ginsburg’s mistake” and warned that he must leave now: “With the 50-50 Senate, anything is possible.”
Biden has promised to appoint the first black woman to court if she is left vacant. Ketanji Brown Jackson, seen as one of the very pioneers, the Senate confirmed earlier this week that it would appeal to major federal appeals courts in Washington DC.
Breyer’s retirement could be one of the only chances for Biden to be appointed to the Supreme Court in the near future, except for unexpected developments. Clarence Thomas, a recognized Conservative named in 1991, is the second oldest on the bench – and 10-year-old Breyer’s junior.
Trump had a rare opportunity to fill three positions during his four-year term after Scalia and Ginsburg were killed and Anthony Kennedy retired. Like many Republican lawmakers, he campaigned conservative court to scare away basic Republican voters who feel strongly about issues like guns and abortion.
Biden, meanwhile, has largely avoided getting directly involved in court-related matters, even though he set up a party committee earlier this year. consider reformsIncluding the addition of more Supreme Court judges.
Asked about the president’s opinion on Breyer’s calls for resignation in April, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was a justice decision. This week, Biden said of McConnell’s hidden threat: “Mitch” just “hasn’t been around for a long time, and I’m sure he means exactly what he says. But we’ll see.”
Supreme Court judges are usually narrow-minded, rarely commenting on conversations or issues. Breyer, a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former professor who includes his curricula in the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Circuit 1 Court of Appeals, has said little about his plans.
The headlines came earlier this year when he gave a speech at Harvard entitled “The Authority of the Court and the Danger of Politics,” in which the court rejected calls to “meet” with additional judges and defended the organization’s white independence. House and Congress.
“If citizens are seen as politicians dressed as judges, their confidence in the courts – and even in the rule of law itself – may diminish, reducing the power of the court, including its ability to act as a control over other branches,” Breyer said.
Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University School of Law, said Breyer may not have looked favorably on the political campaign demanding his departure.
“There’s no question about Breyer’s ongoing intelligence or skills, so the question is whether he feels he needs to get out of court,” Turley said. “Justice Breyer may conclude that it is more detrimental to the court to give up this type of campaign as an institution than to continue in court.”
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