Obama picks 1st young, liberal court nominee

[IDemo]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Thirteen months into his presidency, Barack Obama finally gave liberal supporters the kind of judicial nominee they had sought and conservatives feared.

Goodwin Liu, 39, is an unabashed liberal legal scholar who, if confirmed, could become a force on the federal appeals court for decades. There's talk that in time, the Rhodes Scholar, former high court clerk and current assistant dean and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, could be the first person of Asian descent chosen for the Supreme Court.

"I can easily imagine him" as a high court nominee, said Erwin Chemerinsky, a Liu supporter and dean of the law school at the University of California, Irvine.

Obama's choice of Liu for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco drew quick and vociferous criticism from conservatives. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, described Liu as "far outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/03/13/20100313obama-judges-liberal-ON.html

[Xipe Totec]

1. far outside the mainstream?

The SCOTUS is the one that's far right-side the mainstream of American jurisprudence at the moment.

[Mithreal]

9. +1

[Jackpine Radical]

13. The mainstream is exemplified by Roberts.

Thomas & Scalia are far-left outliers.

[Xipe Totec]

14. Thomas & Scalia are far-left?

That's a novel idea.

Care to elaborate?

[Jackpine Radical]

17. From Sessions' perspective.

Scalia ain't even a Christian, he's a Papist. And Thomas--that miscegenist...

[Xipe Totec]

21. Got it. Thanks for the clarification

:hi:

[axollot]

26. Indeed, I don't think they would pass

Sista *the grifter* Sarah & Michelle * crazy-eyes* Bachmann's American Purity test!

Cheers
Sandy

[axollot]

25. Maybe they went so far right they came full circle ;) n/t

[Unvanguard]

22. Thomas and Scalia are probably to the right of Roberts.

So it's Roberts who's the commie pinko. :)

[olegramps]

16. Sessions is outside the mainstream of belonging to the human race.

[Mithreal]

19. +1

[upi402]

27. LOL +1^ n/t

[rpannier]

33. Remember...It's Jeff Sessions that said it

His definition of mainstream involves a few pick-up trucks, a half dozen men in white robes and hoods, with a noose in one hand and shot-gun in the other

[saigon68]

45. Like this

Session's Wet Dream

[Robb]

2. Sessions wouldn't know the mainstream if it bit him. nt

[rasputin1952]

3. "..."far outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence."

Pretty well describes bush and his administration, to the other side of the ideological spectrum.

I often wonder if the R's actually go through some sort of thought process before they yap like rabid dogs?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

4. Great news. If Liu gets confirmed to Appeals, he'll be fully vetted to replace Stevens

when he retires. Thus Obama may get to replace the oldest USSC Justice with the youngest USSC Justice.

[Hawaii Hiker]

23. I hope you're right but

given how long President Obama's nominations have taken to get confirmed, by the time Goodwin Liu gets confirmed, probably will be 2011....Justice Stevens will likely retire after this term, so in the summer, we'll have the next SCOTUS confirmation, & Professor Liu will STILL be waiting for his Court of Appeals confirmation..

However, I think Liu should be elevated right away to the SCTOUS if Stevens does indeed retire, drop the Court of Appeals nomination & go right for the Supreme Court...

The last president, whose name i forget, elevated Roberts to the Chief Justice right away....Clarence "i love porn" Thomas was confirmed when he was 42 in 1991, so i can't see any reason why Goodwin Liu can't be the next SC nominee....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama

[ProgressiveEconomist]

32. I did say "if". Anyway, the same principle of pre-confirmation may apply to Elena Kagan,

Elena Kagan, who seems to have the inside track to replace Stevens, according to the recommendation-challenged thread at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7914575 .

Elena Kagan was confirmed as Solicitor General a year ago, by a Senate vote of 61-31, according to http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00107 .

All the nays were Rs, as were 7 of the ayes.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

34. Liu may be ready for promotion by the time ailing 2nd-oldest Justice Ginsberg retires:

From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States
:      
                                                              
             
______________________________________________Ap-____________Age
           
______________________________________________point-__Conf___at
            
Name_________________Born_____________________ed_by___vote___appt_First_day

John_G._Roberts_(CJ)_1955-01-27_Buffalo_NY____Dubya___78-22___50__2005-09-29
Samuel_Alito_________1950-04-01_Trenton_NJ____Dubya___58-42___56__2006-01-31
Clarence_Thomas______1948-06-23_Pin_Point_GA__GHWBush_52-48___43__1991-10-23
Antonin_Scalia_______1936-03-11_Trenton_NJ____Reagan__98-_0___50__1986-09-26
Anthony_Kennedy______1936-07-23_Sacramento____Reagan__97-_0___51__1988-02-18
John_Paul_Stevens____1920-04-20_Chicago_______Ford____98-_0___55__1975-12-19
Sonia_Sotomayor______1954-06-25_The_Bronx_____Obama___68-31___55__2009-08-06
Stephen_Breyer_______1938-08-15_San_Francisco_Clinton_87-_9___56__1994-08-03
Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg__1933-03-15_Brooklyn______Clinton_96-_3___60__1993-08-10

[MilesColtrane]

5. I just wanted to remind everyone that there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans, and..

that Obama is Bush-lite.

[Cartoonist]

7. Thanks, Ralph

Actually, there is no difference between Naderites and the GOP. They both want to destroy progressivism no matter how lite it may be.

[MilesColtrane]

8. I know dat's right.

Ralphie boy has always espoused the old, "we have to destroy the village, in order to save the village" philosophy.

[liberation]

31. LOL...

That idiot Nader! trying to hog the spot light even after the wars were ended, Wallstreet was held accountable, and all those laws fomenting the public good that the Dems just passed... oh, wait.

[No Elephants]

37. Not at all. He believes the Democrats are getting more and more like Republicans, so he tried to

provide an alternative. Or maybe he was just trying to wake people up to the fact that the Democratic Party had changed.

[jmowreader]

44. Unfortunately, the "alternative" he provided turned out to be nuttier than squirrel shit

AND it gave us eight years of the most destructive administration in history.

[Mithreal]

11. I'm not even a "Naderite" and find that foolishly hilarious

[Mithreal]

10. Whoever holds to that is a lil silly. I'll use my time to remind everyone of Don Siegelman.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "We want Yoo. We want Yoo," - Republicons for Torture & Generic Evil Doing

eom

[Mithreal]

12. And all that stopped on January 20, 2009, right.

But I like the sentiment.

[grantcart]

15. And Sotomayor is what "a piece of cheese"?

[Mithreal]

18. No, just better aged.

[No Elephants]

36. Nicely done.

[No Elephants]

35. Her track record is not as liberal, but that may have been due to her positions.

She was a corporate lawyer for a number of years. That did not give her a lot of options.

As a federal court judge, she was considered a moderate. However, her job as a lower court judge is basically to follow SCOTUS precedents for the most part.

How she'll be as a SCOTUS Justice remains to be seen. That bench often changes people. Souter and Stevens being the most reent examples. They have both been huge disappointments to the Republicans, who appointed both of them.

So, only time will tell.

[Plucketeer]

20. May history judge senator Jeff

with the same fairness he's judged Liu! :evilgrin:

[axollot]

24. *smile*

[DissedByBush]

28. I don't like him much

He thinks Congress can do whatever it wants, completely meddle in the smallest affairs of the states, without restriction from the Courts.

He thinks it is the job of Congress to define what the Constitution allows and disallows. Isn't interpreting for judges?

Apply this logic to the federal jackboot thugs trying to prevent states from legalizing pot.

"Separation Anxiety: Congress, The Courts, And The Constitution", 91 Georgetown Law Journal Jan 2003.

I would like him for agreeing with Heller, but that's just one case where we agree. It's his entire philosophy I have a problem with.

[No Elephants]

39. The article he co-wrote with Hillary? BTW, where are you getting all that from?

Sounds Freepy. And I don't mean the Detroit Free Press.

Members of Congress take an oath re: the Constitution. Do you think they should not consider whether or not the laws they are about to enact are Constitutional or not before they vote to enact them?

How about the President, who also takes an oath. Should he not consider if a law that lands on his desk for signature is constitutional or not before he signs it?

Liu never said that Congress should have the final say. He said that Courts have the final say.

I don't see a thing wrong with that.

[DissedByBush]

40. Searched it on the Internet

"Do you think they should not consider whether or not the laws they are about to enact are Constitutional or not before they vote to enact them? "

It would be nice if they did that once in a while. But it should have no force.

"Liu never said that Congress should have the final say. He said that Courts have the final Say."

To me it looked more like he thinks the Court should defer to Congress on issues of constitutionality. That's the wrong way around.

[No Elephants]

41. Sounds Freepy.

So far, I have not been able to find that Georgetown article on the internet. If you found it, kindly post a link. If not, you are taking somone else's word for what it says.

And, given that Liu is both an Obama nominee and a liberal, that someone whose word you took would probably be from the RW. .

"It would be nice if they did that once in a while. But it should have no force."

I have no idea what that means in practical terms. They consider if a law is constitution before they vote on it. And courts have the final say. Again, I see no problem with that. It's odd anyone of good faith would.

"To me it looked more like he thinks the Court should defer to Congress on issues of constitutionality."

I think you--or the source who's word you're taking-- misunderstood.

Courts themseles have always said they give deference to a law of Congress. Meaning, a court is not going to declare a law unconstitutional unless there is good reason to do so. And, the court is going to strain to find a constitutional way to interpret a law because the three branches are co-equal--and two of those branches are usually involved in passing a law (veto overrides aside). However, if there is good reason to declare a law unconstitutional, a court will do so. Because, when it comes to the Constitution, courts have the final say.

And that is probably all Liu said. No liberal would say otherwise.

He definitely said courts should have the final say. I've seen that much quoted directly.

Funny that the RW, who says judges should not legislate from the bench also find fault with a reasoned analysis of judicial restraint vs. the Constitutional obligation of a court, simply because the analysis was generated by someone who later became an Obama nominee.

[DissedByBush]

43. Those are his own words

Where the come from is irrelevant. I can't remember where I found them, but several sources come up if you search the referenced article.

"They consider if a law is constitution before they vote on it. And"

Honestly, does it really look like that to you? Most of the time, especially with the RW, it seems they pass a law to pander to a demographic knowing it'll get overturned anyway, or they just don't care.

"Meaning, a court is not going to declare a law unconstitutional unless there is good reason to do so. "

Try this:

"The Gun-Free School Zones Act passed the House by a vote of 313 to 1; it cleared the Senate by unanimous consent. ... But even more astounding than the Court’s willingness to override commonsense legislation with such broad support is its eagerness to do so in terms which are deliberately designed to exclude Congress—and by extension, the American people—from playing a part in defining what the Constitution requires and what it permits."

Because someone thinks it's common sense, because it passed by such a large margin, the Supreme Court should defer.

Uh, no. The Supreme Court should make its decision based on the Constitution, not how popular a bill was.

The Patriot Act had broad support. Feingold was the only senator to vote against it. It passed 357-66 in the House, a very wide margin.

Just because it was sooooo popular, the Supreme Court should of course defer.

I don't think so. Just because it's popular doesn't make it right.

I don't want anyone with that attitude behind a bench.

[hatesthegop]

29. Jeff Sessions can go fuck himself

[hatesthegop]

30. Jeff Sessions can go fuck himself

[IDemo]

38. Sessions wishes Judge Roy Bean were still around n/t

[No Elephants]

42. A Rethug had something critical to say about an Obama nominee--the most liberal

Obama nomineee to date.

I'll try to contain my amazement.


ZZZZZZzzzzz.

[progressoid]

46. Keep them coming Mr. Prez.

k/r

[eridani]

47. Supreme court picks are Obama's brightest moment

Wish he did as well with his financial team.

[Mithreal]

48. +1 But then a lot of us knew long before it would come down to the SCOTUS

[tomp]

49. gee, i wonder if obama was ever described as a liberal legal scholar.

he didn't turn out so hot, so i'm not going to get too excited over this choice.

[marasinghe]

50. a scrap of hope from the changelings.

and none too soon for the 9th uscca - given their performance for the past couple of months.

get to end the week with the novel sensation of praise, rather than curses, pouring from my lips.

and the pleasure of seeing the r-w assholes having their chains yanked.

credit when it's due: kudos to the big O. so sweet it is.