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Old 05-28-2008, 07:08 PM   #39 (permalink)
Cynthetiq
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Willravel
If that were the case why would I be so pissed about Hillary being appointed? She and I both agree on a lot, including really big things like healthcare.

It's about the decisions falling exactly on ideological lines. That's the very definition of bias, and that's what has no place on the bench.


Wait, what? Of course I meant politically. What's the alternative?

This is scaring me, Jazz. Did you do any research on the SCOTUS before posting? Here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill
Exxon had a known alcoholic ship captain who was piloting 10 million gallons of oil into the Prince William Sound, devastating a unique natural environment and causing one of the largest ecological disasters in history. In the original trial, Exxon had their asses handed to them and was ordered to pay $287 million damages and $5 billion punitive. This case is now before the Supreme Court, and it will likely reach it's decision before July.

Here's the clincher: Scalia said he wanted to overturn the decision COMPLETELY. Oh, and he invests heavily in Exxon... and this was long before he was forced to recuse himself after a shitstorm in the media.
so what you're saying is you'd rather not have ANY idea as any kind of descriptor to an individual? That happens all the times, heck it even happens with pitching movies... "It's kind of like Die Hard, but on a ship." "Well, it's like Purple Rain, but with rap music." People are not able to digest long diatribes and making absolute sense out of them. Labels work to some degree.

Let's go back to Civics class. I didn't get one until sophomore year in HS, but it's really as simple as this.

US Constitution Articles I-III   click to show 


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Source: Constitution Center
posted with the TFP thread generator


The Constitution establishes a system of separation of powers among the three branches of government. The framers of the Constitution derived their ideas about the separation of powers from the French philosopher Montesquieu, and they divided the U.S. government into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Article I gives Congress the power to make the laws; Article II gives the president the power to enforce the laws; and Article III gives the judiciary the power to interpret the laws.

But the framers did not make the boundaries between those branches absolute. Instead, they created a system of checks and balances, in which each branch exercised some restraint on the power of the other. For instance, Congress has the power to pass laws, but the president can veto those laws. The president can make treaties, but the Senate must approve them. Judges have life tenure to give them independence, but the president and the Senate together select judges. James Madison described the principle of checks and balances in Federalist 51: “Ambition must be made to counter ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place.”

This system of checks and balances is so intricately woven throughout the Constitution that some scholars believe it negates the separation of powers. According to political scientist Richard Neustadt: “The constitutional convention of 1787 is supposed to have created a government of ‘separated powers.’ It did nothing of the sort. Rather, it created a government of separated institutions sharing powers.”
separation of powers the constitutional doctrine of dividing governmental power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches

checks and balances the constitutional doctrine in which each branch of government shares some of the powers of the other branches in order to limit their actions

As you've posted, they do hear cases, they agree to hear cases based on the merits of if they believe that lower courts have not done correctly. It's not hard to understand. Maybe you watched that episode of Boston Legal where Denny Crane got to try a case before the SCOTUS and you think that it's real and how things get done. Denny Crane.
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