Supreme Resignation sets up Battle

Resignation of Justice Stevens Will Set Up Supreme Court Battle
www.LC.org

Washington, DC – Today, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens announced his resignation from the United States Supreme Court. Justice Stevens will be 90 at the time of his retirement. Justice Stevens was nominated to the High Court in 1975 by President Gerald Ford, after Williams Douglas resigned. Stevens has cast many votes during his tenure on the Court in favor of abortion and a strict separation of church and state.

Names that have been mentioned as possible nominees President Barack Obama may select include Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appeals judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland. No matter who is nominated, the appointment process will no doubt set in motion a battle over the Supreme Court, especially if President Obama chooses a nominee whose judicial philosophy is that of a judicial activist.

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: “The Supreme Court should be about law, not politics. Beginning in the 1950s, the Supreme Court morphed into a political machine. When judges impose their political will rather than the rule of law, the rule of law is undermined and the people lose confidence in the system. As Chief Justice John Roberts said during his confirmation hearings, judges ought to be umpires who simply call the balls and strikes. They ought not play in the game or change the rules. The American people deserve a Supreme Court nominee who respects the rule of law and who will set aside personal bias in order to be faithful to the Constitution.”