The Supreme Court

Professor Harpaz

Fall, 2006

Selection of a Supreme Court Justice

Hypothetical One:

             Assume that it is April, 2007. The Republicans have retained control of the Senate by a two vote margin. Arlen Spector remains Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. President Bush has been informed that Justice Stevens intends to announce his retirement from the Court when the Court’s current Term ends in June. You have been appointed to a committee that will meet to advise the President on possible candidates for the Court vacancy.

Hypothetical Two:

            Assume that it is April, 2007. The Democrats have regained control of the Senate by a one vote margin. Patrick Leahy has become Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. President Bush has been informed that Justice Stevens intends to announce his retirement from the Court when the Court’s current Term ends in June. You have been appointed to a committee that will meet to advise the President on possible candidates for the Court vacancy.

            The first meeting of the committee is scheduled for October 10. Before attending your first committee meeting, you should:

(1) identify criteria you think are important in selecting a new member for the Court;

(2) Assuming the facts in Hypothetical One, select one particular candidate who you think will satisfy those criteria and be an appropriate nominee for President Bush to nominate for the Court vacancy. You need to be prepared to describe your preferred candidate’s background, list the criteria you used to select the candidate and identify why you believe the candidate would be President Bush’s best pick for the opening on the Court. If you are unable to limit your recommendation to a single candidate, you may suggest two or more candidates as alternative possibilities;

(3) Assuming the facts in Hypothetical Two, select one particular candidate who you think will satisfy those criteria and be an appropriate nominee for President Bush to nominate for the Court vacancy. You need to be prepared to describe your preferred candidate’s background, list the criteria you used to select the candidate and identify why you believe the candidate would be President Bush’s best pick for the opening on the Court. If you are unable to limit your recommendation to a single candidate, you may suggest two or more candidates as alternative possibilities.

            To perform the tasks described above, you should read and research in the following manner:

(1) Read the article “Supreme Court Selection as War” by Professor Michael Gerhardt;

(2) Read the material in wikipedia on “Bush Supreme Court candidates” available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_Supreme_Court_candidates. The wikipedia article also contains links to biographical information about possible nominees;

(3) Look at some of the material on the Vacancy on the Court website available at  http://supremecourt.ws/. While some of the material is out of date (note the discussion of the Alito nomination on the opening page), the site still has interesting background information about the nomination and confirmation process as well as a Supreme Court trivia game; and

(4) Do your own independent research by using sources such as the Google search engine or any other internet search tool, databases of newspapers available on Lexis and Westlaw and any other source material you can find about prospective Justices. You may also consult anyone you think could provide such information.