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发帖数: 4174 | 1 The Case for Early Retirement
Why Justices Ginsburg and Breyer should retire immediately.
Randall KennedyApril 28, 2011 | 12:00 am
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Allen and the N-word: White LieJustices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen
Breyer should soon retire. That would be the responsible thing for them to
do. Both have served with distinction on the Supreme Court for a substantial
period of time; Ginsburg for almost 18 years, Breyer for 17. Both are
unlikely to be able to outlast a two-term Republican presidential
administration, should one supersede the Obama administration following the
2012 election. What’s more, both are, well, old: Ginsburg is now 78, the
senior sitting justice. Breyer is 72.
Is such a suggestion an illicit politicization of the Court? No. It is
simply a plea for realism, which is often difficult to muster in the face of
the idolatry that suffuses popular thinking about the justices and their
role in American democracy. There is no question that the justices are often
strategic in deciding when to depart the bench, even if they are quiet
about their aims. One can confidently assume, for instance, that Justice
Antonin Scalia would be especially loath to retire during Obama’s
presidency. The special reluctance would stem from an apprehension that
Obama’s nominee as a successor would likely harbor juridical views
antagonistic to those that Scalia cherishes. That apprehension will prompt
Scalia to make a special effort to hold on to his seat until a very
different sort of politician occupies the White House—a president more
likely to nominate a jurist more in keeping with Scalia’s conservative
outlook.
There is nothing wrong in principle with such a calculation. A justice
should have a deep, even passionate, commitment to his or her judicial
philosophy and therefore act within his or her lawful powers to advance that
perspective. Cloaked with lifetime tenure, federal judges have a unique
power to determine when their judicial careers should end and thus possess
an important, though oft-overlooked, way of influencing the trajectory of
the federal bench. Many federal judges exercise this power by retiring or
taking senior status (a form of semi-retirement) when a president sharing
their political-juridical values is in office. Thus it is that liberal-
leaning justices such as Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, and David Souter
retired during the Clinton and Obama presidencies, while more conservative-
leaning justices such as Sandra Day O’Connor, Lewis Powell, and Warren
Burger retired during the Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II presidencies.
If Ginsburg or Breyer (or both) announced retirement at the end of this
Supreme Court term (pending the confirmation of successors), they could
virtually guarantee that President Obama would get to select their
replacements. Senate Republicans have shown themselves to be willing to
stymie the process of judicial confirmation and leave vacancies open for
long periods of time. The Supreme Court, however, occupies a different
status than federal trial and appellate courts. Even the most recalcitrant
Republican senators seem to acknowledge that Supreme Court vacancies should
be filled without undue delay. That is why Ginsburg and Breyer need to act
soon. If they wait much beyond the end of this Supreme Court term, the
Republicans will delay confirmation, praying for an upset in the
presidential election.
If Ginsburg and Breyer abjure retirement and Obama wins, the justices’
subsequent departures will be relatively harmless. On the other hand, if
Obama loses, they will have contributed to a disaster. The career of Justice
Thurgood Marshall is a cautionary tale. When asked about the prospect of
retiring, he remarked on several occasions that his appointment was for life
and that he intended to serve out his term fully. We now know, of course,
that the end of Marshall’s time at the Court was less dramatic than that
but deeply saddening nonetheless. Plagued by failing health, he retired on
June 27, 1991, setting the stage for President George H. W. Bush to replace
“Mr. Civil Rights” with Clarence Thomas, who has become, ideologically,
the most retrograde justice since World War II. It must have been agonizing
for Marshall to witness his seat pass to the ministrations of a man whose
views on the most pressing issues of our time were so balefully hostile to
his own. Now, if Justice Ginsburg departs the Supreme Court with a
Republican in the White House, it is probable that the female Thurgood
Marshall will be replaced by a female Clarence Thomas.
Justices Ginsburg and Breyer have enriched the nation with long, productive,
admirable careers. They have propounded a moderately liberal jurisprudence
that, at its best, has defended civil liberties, protected the rights of the
marginalized, and asserted the authority of the federal government against
invocations of reactionary originalism. Their estimable records will be
besmirched, however, if they stay on the bench too long. They should
announce their retirements this spring, effective upon the confirmation of
successors. Those, like me, who admire their service might find it hard to
hope that they will soon leave the Court—but service comes in many forms,
including making way for others.
Randall Kennedy clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall and is the Michael R.
Klein Professor of Law at Harvard University. | g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 2 Justice Ginsburg Says She Won’t Retire Before 2012; Hints She May Stay
Until 2016
CNSNews ^ | February 4, 2011 | Nicholas Ballasy
Posted on Friday, February 04, 2011 11:06:02 AM by jazusamo
(CNSNews.com) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said on
Thursday evening that she will not retire from the court before 2012 and
hinted that she might serve until she's at least 83 years old in 2016.
VIDEO 1:57 minutes
Ginsburg was interviewed by NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg
at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
The topic of the discussion was Ginsburg's life before and after becoming a
Supreme Court justice.
“I am constantly asked, ‘Is Justice Ginsburg going to retire soon?’"
Totenberg asked. "So, I will ask you that. Do you have any plans for your
retirement?”
Ginsburg, who was born on March 15, 1933, will turn 78 next month. “I will
give the answer that I just gave to you, Nina, a few moments ago," Ginsburg
said. "One of the nice perks about this job is that we get to choose
paintings from the storage supply of the National Gallery, the Museum of
American Art, the Hirshhorn.
Supreme Court Associate
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“I had a wonderful painting from the Museum of American Art by Josef Albers
,” said Ginsburg. “It was taken away for a traveling exhibition and I’m
told that it will come back to me sometime in 2012. So I am certainly not
going to retire before I get my Albers back. Another answer I can give you
is I was appointed at age 60, the same age that Louis Bidenz Brandeis was
when he was appointed the court. He stayed until he was 83. So I do have a
way to go.”
Ginsburg will be 83 on March 15, 2016. (Louis Brandeis retired from the
Court at the age of 83 in 1939.)
President Barack Obama, who will be standing for reelection in 2012, has so
far filled two vacancies on the Supreme Court, appointing Elena Kagan and
Sonia Sotomayor.
Last year, during the confirmation process for Justice Kagan, U.S. News and
World Report published a piece on "rumors" that Justice Ginsburg might soon
retire, and noted the recent death of her husband and her own bout with
cancer. "While the court won't comment on the rumors, indications are that
she might be looking to leave soon because of the recent death of her
husband and also because of her own health issues," said U.S. News and World
Report. "She recently underwent chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer." | m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 3 她好讨厌啊~o~
C.
【在 g********d 的大作中提到】
: Justice Ginsburg Says She Won’t Retire Before 2012; Hints She May Stay
: Until 2016
: CNSNews ^ | February 4, 2011 | Nicholas Ballasy
: Posted on Friday, February 04, 2011 11:06:02 AM by jazusamo
: (CNSNews.com) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said on
: Thursday evening that she will not retire from the court before 2012 and
: hinted that she might serve until she's at least 83 years old in 2016.
: VIDEO 1:57 minutes
: Ginsburg was interviewed by NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg
: at the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
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