Supreme Court Hearings
March 29 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, Democrat Party, The Left, US CourtsSo why are Democrats so up in arms against the current nominee?
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WSJ 3/25/2017
From the 1986 Senate confirmation hearing of Judge Antonin Scalia, nominated to the Supreme Court: Sen. Ted Kennedy (D., Mass.): Judge Scalia, if you were confirmed, do you expect to overrule the Roe v. Wade?
Scalia: Excuse me?
Kennedy:
Roe v. Wade Do you expect to overrule the Supreme Court decision if you are confirmed?
Scalia: Senator, I do not think it would be proper for me to answer that question. . . .
Kennedy: There have been at least some reports that that was one of the considerations in your nomination. There are a lot of other, clearly, strengths which you bring to your own qualifications. But I am interested in what precedence you put on that decision being on the law books. I am interested in your own concept in stare decisis . Do you believe in it? What is it going to take to overrule an existing Supreme Court decision?
Scalia: As you know, Senator, they are sometimes overruled.
Kennedy: I am interested in your view.
Scalia: My view is that they are sometimes overruled. And I think that— Kennedy: But what weight do you give them?
Scalia: I will not say that I will never overrule prior Supreme Court precedent.
Kennedy: Well, what weight do you give the precedents of the Supreme Court? Are they given any weight? Are they given some weight? Are they given a lot of weight? Or does it depend on your view— Scalia: It does not depend on my view. It depends on the nature of the precedent, the nature of the issue.
Let us assume that somebody runs in from Princeton University, and on the basis of the latest historical research, he or she has discovered a lost document which shows that it was never intended that the Supreme Court should have the authority to declare a statute unconstitutional. I would not necessarily reverse Marbury v. Madison on the basis of something like that.
To some extent, government, even at the Supreme Court level, is a practical exercise. There are some things that are done, and when they are done, they are done and you move on. Now, which of those you think are so woven in the fabric of law that mistakes made are too late to correct, and which are not, that is a difficult question to answer. . . .
Kennedy: And you are not prepared on this issue to say where that decision comes out, as I understand it?
Scalia: That is right, Senator. And maybe I can be a little more forthcoming in response to your first question.
As you followed it up, you said that some thought that that is why I was going onto the Court.
I assure you, I have no agenda. I am not going onto the Court with a list of things that I want to do. My only agenda is to be a good judge. I decide the cases brought before me. And I try to decide them according to the law as best as I can figure it out.
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