A constitutional law reason not to vote for McCain

It is the responsibility and privilege of the President of the United States to nominate and appoint judges to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country. These justices serve on the Supreme Court for life and so vacancies depend on death or retirement. With all the current justices in their 70s and 80s, it is likely that the next President can expect to fill at least 2 vacancies on the Supreme Court. McCain promises to appoint judges who would interpret the Constitution “the way our founding fathers envisaged”, no doubt an attempt to appeal to voters on the far right (fundamentalist Christians in the Bible belt - which i never understood because the US Constitution was never intended to be Christian!!).

So why is the decision of the justices so important?

Who sits on the Supreme Court matters. In December 2000, the poorly reasoned and politically partisan 5-4 decision in Bush v Gore overturned the decision of the Florida court that votes in that state should be recounted, effectively deciding the US presidential election (No prizes for guessing which party the justices were leaning towards). But for the Supreme Court, George W. Bush would not have become the 43rd President, and the world would likely be a very different place today (makes you wish you could go back in time right?).

There are currently 4 conservative justices on the Supreme Court: (1) Juustice Antonin Scalia; (2) Justice Clarence Thomas; (3) Chief Justice John Roberts; and (4) Justice Samuel Alito; and 4 liberal ones: (1) Justice John Paul Stevens; (2) Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg; (3) Justice David H. Souter; and (4) Justice Stephen Breyer. The 9th judge is Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who fits into neither camp.

A recent review of the various cases before the Supreme Court during the 2007-2008 term showed the following important decisions were made by a 5-4 majority: upholding the right of individuals to possess firearms, rejecting the Bush Administration’s defence of the legal basis for detention without trial in Guantanamo Bay and prohibiting the death penalty for crimes other than homicide. Justice Kennedy was in the majority in all 3 cases. Replacing just one liberal with another conservative, as McCain promises to do, would be likely to lead to the overturning of Roe v Wade and the right of women to seek abortions (hurray for the fundamentalist Christian camp). This would result in the recognition of greater executive power and weaker constitutional rights.

Another thing... since the appointment is for life, whoever is appointed is likely to have an influence over the content of constitutional law in the United States well beyond the term of their patron (who is limited to 2 terms in office).