Reuters Analysis: Obama May Now Seek to Make Deeper Mark on High Court

[Hissyspit]

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE8A708520121108

Analysis: Obama may now seek to make deeper mark on high court

WASHINGTON | Thu Nov 8, 2012 1:03am EST

By Joan Biskupic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's election victory on Tuesday may give him the opportunity to deepen his liberal imprint on the U.S. Supreme Court.

- snap -

With his re-election, the retirement of one or more justices in the next four years could preserve the present ideological balance or, more significantly, move the bench to the left.

The court's nine justices are selected for life and their appointments can rank among a president's most enduring legacies.

Four are in their 70s. Two - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 79, and Stephen Breyer, 74 - are liberals. Two - Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy, both 76 - are conservatives. The biggest shake-up would come if either of the last two stepped down.

A swing in the liberal direction could foster a new receptiveness to campaign finance regulation. The five-justice conservative majority, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, has ruled against such regulation, most notably in the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission dispute.

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[still_one]

1. I certainly hope so

[BlueCaliDem]

2. "Liberal" imprint?? President Obama is at best a pragmatic progressive, even moderate.

But liberal? No.

Typical beltway media to attribute anything that's outside their rightwing/corporate view as "liberal".

That said, I really do hope we get liberal justices - much more liberal than Sotomayor and Kagan. But I don't think that's going to happen, although it can't hurt to hope, right?

[msongs]

3. since repubs control the senate (fewer senators but still effectively in charge) we will see nt

[FrenchieCat]

4. I thought Dems controlled the Senate...right?

[BlueCaliDem]

5. Dems have the majorities in the Senate, but if you're referring to the Repubs' penchant

for filibustering anything and everything that doesn't have to do with giving tax cuts to the rich or criminalizing a woman's choice regarding her womb, I agree.

However, Reid has vowed to fix the filibuster rule this January - and he better effing do it, too! That guy talks a great talk, but when the rubber meets the road, he wimps out a lot when it comes to changes like these.

[FSogol]

6. We need to win the Presidency in 2016 and 2020 to really transform this country. n/t

[libdem4life]

7. and it begins now for 2014 ... Need a Target Group to win the House

That will set the stage.