Justice Kennedy-Sweet Caroline to the Supremes?

[Barack_America]

What an interesting idea!

Justice Kennedy
Sweet Caroline to the Supremes?

By Kathryn Jean Lopez

Barack Obama may not be a woman, but the man is a genius. As ink is spilled over the women his victory over Senator Hillary Clinton leave behind, he’s made it all better. He’s put on impenetrable armor. Barack Obama this week put Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg on his search committee for vice president.

--snip--

With Ruth Bader Ginsburg, American Civil Liberties Union vet, feeling “isolated” on the Court at age 75, she could be a prime candidate for retirement. Caroline Kennedy would be ideologically perfect for a president wanting to get another RBG — read: liberal, female, activist — on the Court. Once nominated by President Obama, no effective opposition would present itself; few in the Senate would dare deny her. She’s a lawyer, and has written books on law — including an ode to the all-important Right to Privacy. She’s even given John McCain her family’s “Profile in Courage” award. (Were he to be in the Senate when her name shows up for the confirmation roll, how would he vote?)

For his part, Obama has told us — or Planned Parenthood, to be exact — that he would appoint judges with “empathy.” No one is going to question that this last of the JFK clan, with her inner-city public-school funding and other charitable works fits his (completely inadequate and irrelevant) criteria.

More: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjY0NWY5NzllMTM2NGE5MDZlYWNjMDk4MmIxZWYzMDU=

[Avalon6]

1. She is too old

Obama would be wise to pick someone young as to get the most impact out of his choice.

[KingFlorez]

2. She's only 50

I think that age is young enough to be on the court.

[MonkeyFunk]

3. Huh?

She's 51. How young do you think a supreme court justice should be?

That said, she'll never be put on the court, not without some relevant experience. But I could see a lower judgeship to get her started.

[hokies4ever]

15. Don't underestimate the power of the Kennedy's

The Dems might have such supreme control over the Senate that she could be a shoe-in on a vote.

[Barack_America]

16. Even many Republicans would be hard-pressed to turn down JFK's daughter.

And Teddy's niece.

They'd have to prepare her pretty intensively for a couple of years, but I don't see it being as crazy an idea as some are proposing. It's unconventional, to be sure, but that's what makes it so provocative.

My brain is enjoying kicking this idea around.

[roguevalley]

35. she's scholarly and academic, suitable temperament for the job

and its demands. I would love to see her kick scalia in the ass.

[Mass]

4. Too old ? She is 50, which is young for a justice

[Barack_America]

6. She's two years younger than Roberts.

Who's already the youngest member of the Court.

[SoFlaJet]

7. she's what maybe 50?

that's a young SC justice

[babylonsister]

5. I never thought of that; she would be a brilliant choice! nt

[jsmirman]

8. Why? The floated idea of Cuomo should have been the exception not the rule

He had the intellectual weight for it not to be a ridiculous departure. But please, enough with these posts about someone thoroughly unqualified being elevated to a supreme court justice.

How about just finding a great judge who has a philosophy that matches our side???

[Barack_America]

9. Why? It's a provocative idea, there's no harm in discussing it.

It would seem that with her appointment to his VP search team, she is signaling a level of involvement we've not seen from her.

A lot of people are wondering what this means and this was an idea that I had not heard of, nor thought of before.

[jsmirman]

10. An appointment to a search team and an appointment to what is arguably the most important job in the

country are just not even remotely equivalent.

It would be so Republican of us to appoint someone thoroughly unqualified simply on the merits of being "one of ours".

As a future JD, I find these suggestions appalling.

[Barack_America]

14. Great, given your experience, name the two women you think Obama will appoint.

As he is likely to replace both Ginsberg and Stevens with women.

So who are our up and coming women prospects?

[jsmirman]

20. Ha! That's a *very* tough question at this early point

the judges I know who are female and qualified are all Republicans. Although I'm not sure where in my post I indicated that, I, personally, had any great experience!

It's *way* too early to be sorting out potential appointments unless you're being paid to do just that. Us potzers have an election to win!

But if you want to do the legwork, just go here: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:52j95RHSSnMJ:www.iasb.uscourts.gov/Community/WHMsection6.pdf+female+federal+judges&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

and check out the female judges from the circuit appeals courts.

See if you can find the democratic appointees.

The judge I know best is Reena Raggi (fmr. AUSA Eastern District NY), but she is Reagan appointed and Bush elevated. She's apparently brilliant, but I'm not sure she'd bring balance to the court.

[babylonsister]

13. She shares Obama's ideological views, and AFAIK, there are no

specific qualifications, per this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States

Nomination

Article II of the Constitution gives the President power to nominate justices, who are then appointed "by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate." As a general rule, Presidents nominate individuals who broadly share their ideological views. In many cases, a Justice's decisions may be contrary to what the nominating President anticipated. A famous instance was Chief Justice Earl Warren; President Eisenhower expected him to be a conservative judge, but his decisions are arguably among the most liberal in the Court's history. Eisenhower later called the appointment "the biggest damn fool mistake I ever made."<8> Because the Constitution does not set forth any qualifications for service as a Justice, the President may nominate anyone to serve. However, that person must receive the confirmation of the Senate, meaning that a majority of that body must find that person to be a suitable candidate for a lifetime appointment on the nation's highest court.

She's also educated and liberal, so you tell me, why not? Maybe it's time to look beyond judges.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Kennedy

She received her B.A. from Radcliffe College/Harvard University and her J.D. from Columbia Law School, after attending the Brearley School, and Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan, and Concord Academy in Massachusetts.

Kennedy is an attorney, editor, and writer. She is one of the founders of the Profiles in Courage Award, given annually to a person who exemplifies the type of courage examined in her father's Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. The award is generally given to elected officials who, acting in accord with their conscience, risk their careers by pursuing a larger vision of the national, state or local interest in opposition to popular opinion or powerful pressures from their constituents. In May 2002, she presented an unprecedented Profiles in Courage Award to representatives of the NYPD, the New York City Fire Department, and the military as representatives of all of the people who acted to save the lives of others during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.<3>

Kennedy is currently President of the Kennedy Library Foundation,<4> a director of both the Commission on Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Honorary Chairman of the American Ballet Theatre. She is also an adviser to the Harvard Institute of Politics, a living memorial to her father.

Works published

Kennedy and Ellen Alderman have written two books together on civil liberties:

* In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights In Action (1990) and
* The Right to Privacy (1995)

On her own, she has edited these New York Times best-selling volumes:

* A Patriot’s Handbook
* The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
* A Family of Poems: My Favorite Poetry for Children
* Profiles in Courage for Our Time

She is also the author of "A Family Christmas" a collection of poems, prose and personal notes from her family history.

She took the New York Bar and Washington, D.C. Bar.

[jsmirman]

24. Of course you can nominate who you would like

afaik, she doesn't have much of a record of practice, of the two books you cited, the first seems to be basically a high school text, and the second sounds interesting, although not exactly like a work of deep legal scholarship.

I think she's a hard confirm, although maybe not as hard if the process is going on at the same time people are concerned with Teddy's health, and for my tastes, she's too much of a celebrity to become a Supreme Court Justice.

I still don't think she has the weight, but stranger things have happened. I think we can do a lot better, though.

[karynnj]

11. Her book was excellent and she's better suited to it than HRC

She is a brilliant, classy woman.

[jsmirman]

27. Which one? The first or the second? I don't think either HRC or CK is qualified

and I think two books, at least one of which seems to be marginally more than a high school text book do not constitute enough scholarship to justify an appointment.

[RB TexLa]

12. You know the time between the primaries and the start of the general is called Silly Season

[H2O Man]

17. There is no chance that

Obama would nominate Caroline Kennedy to the US Supreme Court. There is less than zero chance of her accepting, if he did.

[book_worm]

18. It's a nice thought but I doubt he will do it because she lacks any clear experience.

[GoesTo11]

19. Not right for her

She hasn't played on her name, and she wouldn't want to be appointed to something where there are better qualified people (and she's not so vain as to think she is that qualified as a legal theorist compared to, oh, Laurence Tribe). Also, she hasn't sought public positions of influence, preferring to help important causes behind the scenes through her personal diplomacy. I suspect she could get through a nomination process, and I suspect she wouldn't embarrass herself and could represent the progressive side but neither would she be its most effective advocate in arguing at the highest possible level of legal points (we know at the other extreme it's possible to just go along for the ride and cast your vote along party lines, but that is essentially a waste of a seat if the court is, as it should be, a body that deliberates issues.

[bridgit]

21. Kathryn Jean Lopez? National Review? This is wrong headed political satire, right?

[suston96]

22. Easy does it, folks...there will be 2 or 3 vacancies on the court in the next 4 years.....nt

[AllentownJake]

23. Earl Warren

Was never a judge before going on the court so its not unprecedented.

[jsmirman]

25. Their legal records aren't even marginally comparable

Warren had served for many, many years as a DA/AG. He had a long track record as the US Government's representative in court.

That's just not a good example if you're trying to justify Caroline Kennedy.

[AllentownJake]

26. My point

is you don't need to be a judge.

Warren was picked because it was a deal with Eisenhower in the 1952 GOP convention for Warren to give Eisenhower the delegates Eisenhower would make him a justice. He got on the bench because of other reasons than his judicial knowledge.

[jsmirman]

29. But it wasn't laughable because he'd served as a DA

and a State Attorney General.

It was an acceptable compromise they knew they could advance because he was qualified.

[AllentownJake]

30. and till his dying day

Eisenhower was kicking himself for doing it :rofl:

[jsmirman]

32. No doubt! Worked out great for us. Unfortunately, the days of wonderful surprises

are over, at least in our direction.

Souter was an awesome outcome.

[Vicky Polonia]

28. Awesome!

She would be a perfect fit to replace Stevens.

[LTR]

31. Uhh, shouldn't a Supreme Court nominee actually be a 'judge'?

I know she has a law degree, but has she actually ever practiced?

I dunno about you, but I'm sure there are plenty of people on benches across America that would be more adequate.

That was the big problem with Harriet Miers.

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. Do they even have to have a law degree? Sounds weird but I swear

I saw someone post about that back during Alito and Roberts.

[AllentownJake]

34. No requirements in the constitution for a law degree

However the vetting of congress would probably take care of that.