Missing David Souter

By PoliPundit ~ May 2nd, 2009 @ 12:42 pm

Will we miss Justice David Souter?

Liberal Supreme Court Justice David Souter is retiring. On social issues, this makes little difference: whoever replaces him will satisfy liberal litmus tests, like supporting racial preferences and partial-birth abortion the way Souter did.

But on economics, where Souter was more moderate, it will matter a lot: Souter was willing to occasionally overturn excessive punitive damage awards, and overturn state regulations that were preempted by federal law (like in Watters v. Wachovia (2007), where I filed a brief on behalf of economists and law professors). Some of his potential replacements, like Judge Sonia Sotomayor and especially Deval Patrick, will be less likely to do that.

Business will miss Souter, even though social conservatives won’t. Obama is more likely to nominate a justice hostile to taxpayers, business, and property owners, since he has expressed regret that the Supreme Court “didn’t break free” from legal constraints in order to bring about “redistribution of wealth” during the Warren Court.

Fortunately, we still have five relatively conservative Justices on the Court. Three of them are in their fifties, and are likely to be on the Court for the next two decades.

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17 Responses to Missing David Souter

  1. Albert Hodges

    Good riddance to bad trash!

  2. Anonymous

    5 conservatives? You must be counting Anthony Kennedy.

  3. MI Conservative

    Gosh, For all the conservatives that voted third party because McCain wasn’t with them on all the issues——maybe it did matter after all.

  4. invalid10

    Alito and Roberts might be on it for two decades.

    I’ll be seriously amazed if Thomas, Scalia, and Kennedy all three make it even eight more years though since they are all obese especially the former two. No way their bodies sustain them all for that long.

  5. MI Conservative

    I know a lot of old fat people.

  6. Rod Stanton

    Reason #1,989 why nobody with the sirname Buish should be supported by the GOP. Never, ever again!

  7. invalid10

    John Williams from ShadowStats interviewed on how the government manipulates economic statistics.

  8. keith

    MI. No. It didn’t matter. McCain would appoint Specter, or Collins, or Snow, or probably another Souter. I would just as soon have one of Baracko’s commies, as one of McCain’s picks.

  9. invalid10

    McConnell could suggest Richard Allen Posner as an Obama Supreme Court pick?

    Elena Cagan and Diane Woods are both U of C former colleges of Obama. Obama is said to have a favorable opinion of Posner.

    Social cons would still go nuts, but he might be better than the alternatives.

  10. ZoloCoalK

    Существует прикольный СМС сервис для розыгрышей. Здесь можно отправить смс с заменой номера. Куча эмоций и ярких впечатлений гарантировано.

  11. Артемий Лебедев

    Поздравляю, эта отличная мысль придется как раз кстати

  12. Надежда Голубева

    Я присоединяюсь ко всему выше сказанному. Можем пообщаться на эту тему.

  13. Ключи для касперского 2010

    В миле от берега с рыболовного судна забросили сети с приманкой,
    весть об этом мгновенно донеслась до Стаи, ожидавшей завтрака, и вот
    уже тысяча чаек слетелись к судну, чтобы хитростью или силой добыть
    крохи пищи. Еще один хлопотливый день вступил в свои права.

  14. MemGoossyFeex

    это уже практические занятия, сперва – теория!

  15. appeatcoreors

    от кризиса устали

  16. mossyBouh

    Ты права,очень обидно Да шутим мы так

  17. Apomomync

    Совершенно верно

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