Breyer to retire at end of term

[Bryce]

Here are a few questions...

If I put an ad on ziprecruiter.com looking to fill a position and said I was considering only white male candidates with conservative views, how long before someone from the EEOC would be knocking on my door? Why is this different?

If someone comes out with claims of impropriety leveled at the Biden nominee in their past, ala Bork, Thomas and Kavanaugh, will any media outlet besides Fox and Newsmax cover it?

Does the fact Biden's approval rating has dropped 17 points among black voters have anything to do with this decision?

Was this announcement leaked prematurely, from the Whitehouse, to take attention away from Biden's recent failures and current problems in the news cycle? There hasn't been an official announcement by Breyer or The Supreme Court.

[bmw]

If I put an ad on ziprecruiter.com looking to fill a position and said I was considering only white male candidates with conservative views, how long before someone from the EEOC would be knocking on my door? Why is this different?

Black privilege.

If someone comes out with claims of impropriety leveled at the Biden nominee in their past, ala Bork, Thomas and Kavanaugh, will any media outlet besides Fox and Newsmax cover it?

Only to the extent that such attacks on said woman are sexist and unfair.

Does the fact Biden's approval rating has dropped 17 points among black voters have anything to do with this decision?

I doubt it. It was already a criteria he used to choose his VP. So nothing new here.

Was this announcement leaked prematurely, from the Whitehouse, to take attention away from Biden's recent failures and current problems in the news cycle? There hasn't been an official announcement by Breyer or The Supreme Court.

My first thought when I read this news was that this was politically timed. If there's one thing that can get the Democrat base riled up, it is a battle over a Supreme Court pick.

[Bryce]

Only to the extent that such attacks on said woman are sexist and unfair.

Does the fact Biden's approval rating has dropped 17 points among black voters have anything to do with this decision?

I doubt it. It was already a criteria he used to choose his VP. So nothing new here.

And THAT was such a stunning success story.

[bmw]

It's not even a rational decision in what is supposed to be a "color blind" society. You look at the criteria of EVERYBODY and you choose based on that. And whatever the race of that person happens to be, so be it.

[Matt]

Kamala to SCOTUS, Trump to VP. Trump's main responsibility is the border.

[Bryce]

Kamala to SCOTUS, Trump to VP. Trump's main responsibility is the border.

SCOTUS already has a Kamala. Her name is Sonia.

[FakeAndyStuart]

Great to watch you guys pull each others puds during the thrilling conversation.

1) The President promised during a primary debate to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court. He's keeping that promise.

2)

t's not even a rational decision in what is supposed to be a "color blind" society. You look at the criteria of EVERYBODY and you choose based on that. And whatever the race of that person happens to be, so be it.

And what exactly do you mean by "criteria"? The entire list that President Trump announced as his SC nominees were all white and all approved by a conservative Think Tank.

3) This process was damaged badly by the rejection of Robert Bork. Before that, nominees were judged by their "criteria". Now, they are judged by their partisanship. Sad state of American affairs...

[Bryce]

3) This process was damaged badly by the rejection of Robert Bork. Before that, nominees were judged by their "criteria". Now, they are judged by their partisanship. Sad state of American affairs...

Thank-you Ted Kennedy. Less than an hour after Bork's nomination the "Lion of the Senate" took to the Senate floor and announced.

“Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens.”

The process went downhill from there.

[bmw]

2)

t's not even a rational decision in what is supposed to be a "color blind" society. You look at the criteria of EVERYBODY and you choose based on that. And whatever the race of that person happens to be, so be it.

And what exactly do you mean by "criteria"? The entire list that President Trump announced as his SC nominees were all white and all approved by a conservative Think Tank.

Try to keep on topic here. The topic isn't Trump or his picks (and btw - your claim that Trump's entire list of candidates was white is factually false). The topic is on whether before even considering a nominee, you should eliminate 93% of all possible candidates on the basis of gender and skin color? Do you support this? By "criteria" I mean merit-based qualifications. Skin color and gender have nothing to do with one's qualifications to be a judge.

[Bryce]

Betcha Condoleezza Rice isn't on the short list.

[Deleted User 9015]

Betcha Condoleezza Rice isn't on the short list.

I would hope not! Her education was centered around international relations and political science.

[Bryce]

Betcha Condoleezza Rice isn't on the short list.

I would hope not! Her education was centered around international relations and political science.

As opposed to Sotomayor with a Bachelors in History and a law degree centered on business?

[Deleted User 9015]

Betcha Condoleezza Rice isn't on the short list.

I would hope not! Her education was centered around international relations and political science.

As opposed to Sotomayor with a Bachelors in History and a law degree centered on business?

I am struggling to see why that matters. From what I know of law degree programs, everyone takes about 60-70% of the same or similar courses. She likely had to take a good deal of courses focused on things like the UCC and contracts. Just going off my own personal experience from when I considered getting a law degree and reviewed coursework, I considered tax or business transactions as an area of focus because of a professional certification and a bachelors in accounting. From what I recall, most coursework was the same independent of focus, but then there were like 5-6 courses in a concentration area, like constitutional law or business or tax. Gotta say, I think that, and her career, are both things that prepared her in ways that Rice wouldn't be prepared.

[Bryce]

All things said and done, I would prefer someone who is has a background in, and studied, Constitutional law. Clerking for a Supreme Court Justice would be a plus too.

NOT someone that thinks Montesquieu is a nice wine.

[FakeAndyStuart]

The topic is on whether before even considering a nominee, you should eliminate 93% of all possible candidates on the basis of gender and skin color? Do you support this?

Yes I do. In my lifetime, a person's color determined whether they could vote, own a house, have a job. In my lifetime, a black man could go to war to protect his white countrymen, until he came home and tried to register to vote and then they hanged him.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ ... 180978538/

As a society, we haven't paid a price for any of that yet. It's time we do.

All things said and done, I would prefer someone who is has a background in, and studied, Constitutional law. Clerking for a Supreme Court Justice would be a plus too.

Great, I found you someone who meets your criteria.

Judge Jackson, who clerked for Justice Breyer during the Supreme Court’s 1999-2000 term, was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Miami. She graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She worked several legal jobs early in her career, including as a staff member for the United States Sentencing Commission and, from 2005 to 2007, as an assistant federal public defender in Washington. In 2012, President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as a district court judge in the capital. During her eight and a half years on the Federal District Court bench, Judge Jackson handled a number of challenges to executive agency actions that raised questions of administrative law. She also heard several cases that attracted particular political attention.