Supreme Court 9/2005

Key Lecture Points:

• Article II section 2 of the Constitution states that the Presidents "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint ... Judges of the Supreme Court...". Any Supreme Court vacancy presents a test of the delicate balance of power between the three branches of the Federal Government: the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial

• Beginning with hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Supreme Court nominees are subjected to scrutiny of the Senate before the Senate debates the nomination as a whole.

• As of 2005, 148 people have been officially nominated to the US Supreme Court. The Senate has rejected twelve, taken no action on five and postponed votes on three. The President has withdrawn his nomination on six occasions. Seven others have declined the nomination.

• There are two general reasons that a prospective Justice’s nomination might be rejected or withdrawn: past personal problems or clash of political ideology.

• The 1991 hearings regarding nominee Clarence Thomas provide an example of how accusations of personal impropriety can make confirmation hearings contentious.

• The hearing regarding nominee Robert Bork in 1987 provide an example of a confirmation process that hinged upon political and judicial ideology. Conservatives tend to label the Bork hearings as a slander of a nominee, while liberals tend to hail the hearings as a thorough vetting of a nominee who was out of keeping with American beliefs. In the current debate over the confirmation of justices nominated by President George W. Bush, the Bork hearings provide a crucial backdrop for Bush nominees, beginning with John Roberts.

For More Information:
• Federalist Paper #77, wherein Alexander Hamilton discusses the relationship between the President and the Senate as proposed in the U.S. Constitution: http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/fed/blfed77.htm
• US Senate Judiciary Committee website, containing transcripts of current confirmation hearings: http://judiciary.senate.gov/
• PBS Newshour analysis of the effect of the Bork nomination upon the confirmation process: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/supreme_court/roberts/politicization.html
• Official website of the U.S. Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/about.html
• BBC analysis of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4698685.stm

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