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Boo On Sandra

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Jeff, Dec 18, 2000.

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  1. Jeff

    Jeff Clutch Crew

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    Ugh!

    O'Connor bemoaned news of Gore victory
    Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle News Services


    NEW YORK -- Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor declared "this is terrible" during an election-night party when she heard Florida was first called for Vice President Al Gore, Newsweek magazine reports.

    Quoting two eyewitnesses to her comments Nov. 7, Newsweek said O'Connor then walked off to get a plate of food, and her husband, John, explained to friends and acquaintances that she was upset because they wanted to retire to Arizona and a Gore presidency meant they would have to wait another four years because she did not want a Democrat to name her successor.

    Newsweek noted that O'Connor had no way of knowing when she let her guard down that five weeks later she would play a direct and decisive role in the election of Gore's Republican rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

    Not long after Florida was called for Gore, news organizations retracted the call and said Florida was too close to be awarded to either candidate. The state was then called for Bush, but again that call was retracted and the race remained in limbo for five weeks.

    O'Connor, 70, had been Republican majority leader of the Arizona State Senate before being appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1981. The magazine said in its edition due out today her remarks would likely fuel criticism that justices "sought to influence" election returns in their ruling that ended the election impasse.

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    The way to use life is to do nothing through acting,
    The way to use life is to do everything through being. - Lao-Tzu
     
    #1 Jeff, Dec 18, 2000
  2. Kim

    Kim Member

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    This is what I've learned from my POLS book:

    The supreme court is influenced by politics as much as the legislature and president's office. It has, however, the highest approval rating of the three and also the highest level of public ignorance towards it. This is how the system works though, and is supposedly good.
     
    #2 Kim, Dec 18, 2000
  3. TraJ

    TraJ Member

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    I guess she'll get her wish. It's fortunate for her that the law of land demanded what she herself wanted, otherwise she might have been tugged between the two.

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    #3 TraJ, Dec 18, 2000
  4. mrpaige

    mrpaige Member

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    Justices routinely wait for someone with their same political stripe to come to power before retiring. And it is certainly understandable that a Justice who wants to retire would be upset over the prospect of not being able to retire until later if she wants her successor to be of the same political stripe.

    That doesn't mean that she or anyone else on the court cannot make decisions based on the facts of the case. Even had she not been considering retirement, would O'Connor's decision been any different in these recent cases? Probably not.

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    #4 mrpaige, Dec 18, 2000
  5. Rocket River

    Rocket River Member

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    Mr Paige

    The world may never know

    Rocket River

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    #5 Rocket River, Dec 19, 2000
  6. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    mrpaige,

    I don't know about her, but numerous political scholars have stated that Scalia, Rehnquist and Thomas' decisions all went against how they would normally vote in judicial restraint cases.

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    visit www.swirve.com

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    #6 Rocketman95, Dec 19, 2000
  7. mrpaige

    mrpaige Member

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    I guess that depends on how you look at the case and how you define judicial restraint. Scalia, Thomas and Rehnquist are the polar opposite of activist Justices. They choose to interpret the law very narrowly. By allowing recounts to extend past the Congressionally mandated deadline would've been acting in a activist way and would've been quite different than what we usually see from the three.

    Since there were conflicting issues, either way those three Justices voted would've been contrary to the ways they often vote.

    It all depends on which way you frame the issues involved.

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    #7 mrpaige, Dec 19, 2000
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