Are concerns about Supreme Court justices’ ethics an old problem, a new one, political gamesmanship, or something more serious? Yes to all of it.
Donald Trump, left, and Joe Biden, both photographed on Nov. 2, 2023, are two of the three oldest men ever to serve as president.
Trump: Brandon Bell/Getty Images; Biden: AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Many years beyond the average American retirement age, politicians vie for power and influence. Their constituents tend to prefer they step back and pass the torch to younger people.
The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, written in 1787 on parchment paper.
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In this play, RBG discusses her most famous cases and her conversations with three of the presidents who served during her 27-year term on the US Supreme Court.
The US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2022.
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Unlike in most countries, US Supreme Court justices enjoy life tenure. Some legal scholars believe that centuries-old custom, meant to protect judicial independence, no longer serves the public.
A justice representing a kinder political age?
AP Photo/Steven Senne
There was little controversy when President Bill Clinton nominated Stephen Breyer to the bench in 1994. His tenure on the Supreme Court reflects those less partisan times.
Lifetime tenure has pushed the average age of judicial nominees down as presidents appoint younger justices in hopes they will serve for many decades.
Erin Schaff/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Unlike in most countries, US Supreme Court justices enjoy life tenure. Some legal scholars believe that centuries-old custom, meant to protect judicial independence, no longer serves the public.
Political pressure is focusing on the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Many states have found ways to remove partisan politics from their court systems.
Number three: Donald Trump at the swearing in of Amy Coney Barrett to the US Supreme Court. She is the third justice he has appointed to the court.
Ken Cedeno/EPA
Republicans won the recent battle over nominations to the US Supreme Court with the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett. The loser might be the court itself.
Former House Speaker John Boehner holds a press conference June 25, 2012, after the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision upholding the Affordable Care Act.
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Democrats are outraged at what they say is the hypocrisy of allowing a president to appoint a new Supreme Court justice near the end of his term. One of their biggest practical concerns is the ACA.
A lot of interests want to influence the cases that come before the Supreme Court and how they’re decided.
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Special interests use the court as a public policy battleground. Here’s a rundown of how that works and which groups are likely to appear before a conservative court with Amy Coney Barrett on it.
Trump with 7th U.S. Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett and her family Sept. 26 at the White House.
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With Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination, Trump has fulfilled his pledge to replace the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a woman. But female judges don’t all decide alike any more than male judges do.
As the nation mourns Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a partisan fight over her replacement begins.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
A more conservative court could choose cases that incrementally erode abortion rights, or they could push for reconsideration of the constitutional issues at the very heart of Roe v. Wade.
Members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal organization, which began in Pennsylvania in 1967, holding a meeting in France.
Photo by Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty Images
The Catholic charismatic movement in the United States began during the 1960s. The practices of Catholic charismatics encompass various forms of Pentecostalism.
Abortion rights demonstrators rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington on March 4, 2020.
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin File)
The death of U.S. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has re-ignited debates on the protection of reproductive rights. This might be the time to examine an overlooked inconsistency in the pro-life argument.
Michael Widomski, left, and David Hagedorn at the makeshift memorial for Justice Ginsburg in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. Ginsburg officiated their wedding in 2013.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death sparked many tributes to her work ending sex discrimination against women. That work also paved the way for successes in the fight for equal rights for the LGBTQ community.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has opened up a battle for the vacant seat on the US Supreme Court.
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From her early career as an academic to a Supreme Court justice, ‘RBG’ was a trailblazer in all aspects of her work. Though not without controversy, she leaves behind a huge legacy.