Another Look at Presidential Politics–Predictions for the Workplace–McCain on Supreme Court

The importance of the U.S. Supreme Court on labor and employment law has been summarized in a previous post. This post also lists the current justices and their ages, the latter making it apparent that the next president will make one or more appointments to the Court. To review this previous post, click here.

Because Senator McCain has been in the U.S. Senate since 1986, he has voted on several Supreme Court justices. In fact, he has voted on seven of the nine current justices, and he voted yes on all seven: Roberts, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Alito. Generally speaking, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer are considered liberal, while Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito are considered conservative. So, McCain voted for justices in both camps. It would be a mistake, however, to read too much into this.

In the first place, it’s difficult to know which camp a justice is going to land in when he or she is being considered by the Senate. Justice Souter was appointed by President George H. W. Bush and was predicted to be somewhat conservative. Things haven’t worked out that way. While Justices Ginsburg and Breyer (both appointed by President Clinton) were predicted to be somewhat liberal (and they have been), they had overwhelming support in the Senate from both parties and from most senators who describe themselves as conservatives–because their credentials were so strong. The votes on Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito were much more controversial (particularly Alito), because they were thought by some to be too conservative.

McCain’s voting record on Supreme Court justices while in the Senate would certainly support the proposition that he has an open mind, is not an ideologue when it comes to the Court, has no litmus test for a Supreme Court nominee, and is more concerned with a nominee’s credentials than his or her philosophical or political bent. It’s also fair to point out I think that McCain has repeatedly said that if elected President, he would be looking for justices who lean more conservative than liberal.

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   John Phillips says:

   March 9, 2008 at 1:27 pm

   The next President will have the chance to appoint two or three (perhaps more) Supreme Court justices. Thanks for including my post about this in your carnival.