Monday, April 20, 2020

It's the courts, Stupid!

Yesterday a bunch of Bernie Bros got Souter trending on Twitter, claiming that if Joe Biden is elected we will get a conservative Supreme court Justice.

Let's get some detail on that one:


Nominee Year/President Vote Biden's vote
John Paul Stevens 1975, Ford 98-0 Yea
Sandra Day O'Connor 1981, Reagan 99-0 Yea
William Rehnquist 1986, Reagan 65-33 Nay
Antonin Scalia 1986, Reagan 98-0 Yea
Anthony Kennedy 1988, Reagan 97-0 Yea
David Souter 1990, George H.W. Bush 90-9 Yea
Clarence Thomas 1991, George H. W. Bush 52-48 Nay
Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1993, Bill Clinton 96-3 Yea
Stephen Breyer 1994, Bill Clinton 87-9 Yea
John Roberts 2005, George W. Bush 78-22 Nay
Samuel Alito 2006, George W. Bush 58-42 Nay
Here is the thing, on every controversial Republican pick, Biden voted no. He voted with the majority of the Democratic party the majority of the time, and if he wins the election he will probably nominate court justices like RBG, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayer, and Elena Kagan.

There are also a lot of lower courts which Trump has had the ability to pack over the last 3 years, given how McConnell refused to give Obama his appointees which was I believe was technically unconstitutional. If Trump wins another term, he will probably replace either RBG or Stephen Breyer by 2025. If that happens, here are the court decisions which are likely to be overturned:
  1. Obergefell v. Hodges
  2. Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey
  3. Massachusetts v. EPA
  4. Texas v. Johnson
  5. Grutter v. bollinger
and more.

This is what you are voting on.

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