The Supreme Court Nomination
On March 16, 2016, President Obama nominated federal Judge Merrick Garland of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. Senate Republicans have said they will not act on any Supreme Court nomination from President Obama. Georgia State legal experts and faculty reflect on the Court, weigh in on the possibility of landmark cases being heard without a full bench and explain what it would take to get a new justice confirmed.
RECENT POST
Segall on Storm Clouds over SCOTUS
by Eric Segall, Kathy & Lawrence Ashe Professor of Law
It has been a rough year for the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Antonin Scalia passed away unexpectedly in February. That very night, the Senate Majority Leader announced that the seat would remain vacant until the next President took office, which meant an incomplete Court for the remainder of the 2015-16 term and probably for the entire next term as well. Several justices have been lamenting this short-handed state of affairs even if this author feels they are overreacting.
UNIVERSITY EXPERTS IN THE NEWS
- Nirej Sekhon on Utah v. Strief for Fair.org
- Tanya Washington on Supreme Court Decisions for CBS News
- Amy Steigerwalt on Judge Merrick Garland’s Nomination for CBS News
- Eric Segall on Huffington Post: Maybe a Supreme Court with 8 Justices Isn’t So Bad After All
- Segall on Salon.com: Justice Scalia’s Cruelest Irony: This Is the Real Impact of a 4-4 Supreme Court
- Segall on Bloomberg: Is an Eight-Member Supreme Court So Bad?
- Segall on The New York Times Opinion Pages: Benefits of an Evenly Split Court Will Become Apparent
- Segall in The New York Times: A Supreme Court Not So Much Deadlocked as Diminished
- Segall in the Economist: Fit to Be Tied: Why the Supreme Court is slowing down
- Segall’s Salon Piece: We Don’t Need Another Scalia: This Is Why Liberals Should Embrace a 4-4 Court
- Segall’s Salon Piece: Justice Scalia’s Cruel Irony: His Absences Exposes Truth about Supreme Court
- Amy Steigerwalt Discusses on Status of Garland Nomination on Sinclair Broadcasting
- Steigerwalt quoted in Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Obama’s Supreme Court pick ignites partisan acrimony
- Segall’s Salon Piece: This Is Not a Court of Law: Why GOP Obstruction Over Scalia Seat Might Open Everyone’s Eyes to a Politicized Supreme Court
- Segall in The New York Times on Why Scalia’s Death Is The Best Chance to Remake the Court
- Segall in The Daily Signal on 6 Supreme Court Rulings That Could Be Overturned If a Liberal Replaced Scalia
- Caren Morrison on Wisconsin Public Radio on Scalia’s Legacy and the Confirmation Process
- Business law professor Anne Tucker on How Scalia’s Death Affects Business Cases on the Docket
- Political Scientist Dan Franklin on CNN about the Worst Job in Washington, D.C.
- Morrison on WSB About Appointing a Supreme Court Justice
- Religious Professor Louis Ruprecht Jr. on The Legacy of Justice Antonin Scalia (1936-2016)
- Segall in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Scalia’s Death
- Segall in the New Republic on Why Do We Pretend Supreme Court Justices Are Anything But Political Officials?
- Segall’s Salon.com Piece: Liberals Might Miss Justice Scalia More Than They Think
- Listen to Ian Master’s Interview of Segall on Justice Antonin Scalia
- Listen to Pete Dominck’s Interview of Segall on Justice Antonin Scalia
FEATURED EXPERTS
College of Law
Neil J. Kinkopf, professor of law, is the faculty advisor for the ACS Student Chapter. He is following the developing nomination battle between President Obama and the Republican Party and its historical context.
Lauren Sudeall Lucas, assistant professor of law, served as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens during the 2006-07 term, as a law clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as an attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta.
Caren Morrison, associate professor of law, served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Eastern District of New York from 2001 to 2006, where she prosecuted international narcotics traffickers and organized crime. She is following the nomination process.
Eric Segall, the Kathy & Lawrence Ashe Professor of Law, is the author of “Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices are Not Judges.” He is following the effects of Justice Scalia’s death on the Court’s docket.
Anne Tucker, associate professor of law, researches corporate law, recently focusing on issues related to individual investors. She is following the effects of Justice Scalia’s death on corporate law.
Tanya Washington, professor of law, focuses her research and scholarship on issues related to educational equity and issues arising at the intersection of domestic relations, race and children’s constitutional rights. An amicus curiae brief co-written by Washington was cited by Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion of Obergefell v. Hodges.
Patrick Wiseman, professor of law, teaches constitutional law and related courses, all of which are about the U.S. Supreme Court. He is following the Senate’s obligations in the nomination process.
College of Arts and Sciences
Daniel P. Franklin, associate professor of political science, is the author of “Pitiful Giants: Presidents in their Final Term” (Palgrave MacMillian, 2014), one of many publications exploring political culture, executive powers and the relationships between the presidency and Congress.
Louis A. Ruprecht Jr., the William M. Suttles Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, is a research fellow at the Vatican Library and the Vatican Secret Archives. His work covers classical literature and philosophy, and looks at the legacy of classical thought throughout history in diverse areas including ethics, politics, psychology, sexuality, drama and film.
Amy Steigerwalt, associate professor of political science, studies the political process behind federal judicial nomination and confirmation.
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