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Hasen on Replacing Scalia

By Lawrence Solum

On Slate, Looking ahead to Justice Antonin Scalia's retirement by Richard L. Hasen. A taste:

President Obama's political task, three years from now, will be to convince the country that he, not a Republican president, should make that potential appointment. The point isn't to show that he would move the Court leftward if re-elected in 2012?he'd probably be better off sending more moderate signals, which is another reason not to expect him to choose a strong liberal to fill Stevens' seat. Obama should instead stress that if a Republican wins in 2012, Scalia and Kennedy will probably retire. That would give the new Republican president the chance to entrench the five-justice Republican majority for decades?and to cement it, by replacing Kennedy with a wholly reliable right-wing vote. That's the Supreme Court script for the Democrats in 2012.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on April 12, 2010 (boomark / email).