Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - The system shows it still works
Thread: The system shows it still works
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Old 11-06-2008, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Taltarzac View Post
I doubt if the Republican loaded US Supreme Court with Barack Obama as President and a Democrat majority in the House and Senate will on one hand push forth any kind of anti-abortion agenda which could have been a different story with McCain/Palin in the White House. On the other hand, doubt if this Supreme Court will even touch on the matter of the the right of gays and lesbians to marry under State and US Constitutions. It would seem that the US Constitution and how SCOTUS justices interpret it would be the final arbiter on whether or not gays and lesbians can marry in states like FL, CA and MA.

"Seven of the current justices of the court were appointed by Republican presidents, while two were appointed by a Democratic president. It is popularly accepted that Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito compose the Court's conservative wing. Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer are generally thought of as the Court's liberal wing.[13] Justice Kennedy, generally[citation needed] thought of as a conservative who "occasionally vote[s] with the liberals", is considered most likely to be the swing vote that determines the outcome of certain close cases.[14]"

From Wikipedia article on the United States Supreme Court. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme..._United_States
Again, who appointed the justices seems to matter very little in the long run. SCOTUS is currently handling over 10,000 cases per term, and the breadth and scope of these cases covers quite a legal spectrum.

People tend to forget that SCOTUS is actually a court of appeals (except if the dispute is between states or the US versus a state). Unless the case has been decided by a US Circuit Court of Appeals already; or has US Constitutional considerations and has been decided by the highest court of the state, SCOTUS is out of bounds. SCOTUS can't jump into the middle of a legal fray which is winding its way through the existing appellate system.

For those who have never been involved with SCOTUS, a visit to its website (www.supremecourtus.gov) can make for an interesting time. For a real legal kick, visit the website with the transcripts of the oral arguments presented before the Court (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_a...anscripts.html). These can be quite entertaining.