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Who’s the greatest modern jurist (lawyer or judge)?
I may be revaling too many cards here, but my vote goes to Scalia, even though I only agree with him about 92% of the time 😀While I probably agree with Thomas more than Scalia (they usually agree on decisions), I think that Scalia has some of the most colorful and compelling arguments of any I have read. Of course, Scalia says that he likes Justice Robert Jackson.
Another great jurist is Learned Hand.
Jurists in my dog house include Brennan, Thurgood Marshall (especially in the area of criminal procedure), and David Souter.I couldn’t agree more. Thurgood Marshall was probably this century’s worst Justice.
I too agree with Thomas a little more often than I do Scalia, but for sheer pugnaciousness, brilliance, logic, brutality of argument and abrasiveness, Scalia gets my vote in this category.I like Robert Bork….I wish he had been confirmed. As for the ones who were confirmed, I like Scalia and Thomas is a close second. What are your thoughts on Warren Burger? ❓
Bork should have been confirmed. It was the height of pettiness and self -absorption by the Democrats that prevented it.
I don't know much about Burger so I'm reserving judgment until I have time to study him or at the very least read some of his decisions.This brings up another question – did the “borking” of Bork signal the beginning to a new phase in American politics? Do any of you see a shift in the divide which we now refer to as a Red/Blue State division?
Certainly, Ted Kennedy's "Robert Bork's America" was a low blow - a sort of scortched earth policy when it came to liberal/conservative differences. Following up with Thomas' confirmation hearings and we can see a continued division. This division is really alive today, though I think the conservative sector of American politics has become more intelligent (politically speaking) and now knows better how to respond to such attacks.Bork’s nomination certainly ushered in a new era of insanity in the SCOTUS nomination and confirmation process, and the template remains much the same to this day: When a Republican nominates someone, scream bloody murder, get your interest groups mobilized to make up lies and smear the nominee, distort their positions, cry about them “rolling back” cherished “liberties” (read: abortion) etc. etc.
Bork's nomination proved that the base of liberal voters has a high tolerance for the absurd and vicious and will support the Ted Kennedy's and John Kerry's no matter what they do to a nominee. This only emboldened them and made sure we got more of the same in the future. It's sad really.I think the Bork and Thomas confirmation hearings galvanized the conservative base to win back the court. Now that the opportunity has arrived, we are seeing conservative judges being nominated who have pedigrees the liberals cannot question….though they will try. In the end, conservativism will regain control of the Supreme Court and the Liberal ideology will lose its last bastion of power. We are seeing the end of Liberalism as we know it…..and a short enough reign it was not. 😆
Don’t be so sure. I agree that conservtives are looking for a fight, but Bush refuses to give us one. He nominated Roberts who no reasonable person could dislike (witness the large # of votes against him, though, for an indication of who a reasonable person is and isn’t) then he gave us Harriet Miers, a crony with no background in Con Law, etc. Now we have Alito who, for all of his attributes, wouldn’t be my first choice. For some reason, Bush is scared of a fight over the bench. It makes no sense to me. Those who are going to oppose and be contrary are going to be that way no matter what, so why not at least appease your supporters and get another Scalia or Thomas (or even Rehnquist) on there?
When Rehnquist died, he should have nominated Scalia for Chief Justice. The collective pop of liberal heads exploding all over the country would have been music to my ears.Sadly, I believe the Bush administration has enough on its table at present. If there was no war on terror, Iraq, Katrina etc….he might have nominated a more overtly conservative and controversial candidate. I really don’t think we need a knock down drag out fight over the Court. Yes, I would have liked to see Priscilla Owens or Janice Rogers Brown or even old Bork put up there just to see the Liberals squirm, but Alito is as conservative as we really need, and will follow Chief Justice Roberts’s lead. We must look to other pressing matters right now and pick our fights.
