You Be the Judge
9th March 2022
Back in the days when a proper meal for a Supreme Court justice was a steak, a baked potato, a couple of shots of bourbon, and a cigar, nominees to this lifetime job weren’t expected to last all that long. For instance, Harry Truman’s four picks spent an average of only eleven years on the highest court.
But over time the stakes have been elevated to Battle of Stalingrad proportions due to a combination of a more activist judiciary and extended lifespans. The seven justices selected by Reagan, the elder Bush, and Clinton averaged 27 years, with Clarence Thomas still ticking.
The Supreme Court will likely decide upon the constitutionality of affirmative action at universities in 2023. But many would prefer that the existence of racial preferences not be even thought about when assessing the career qualifications of Joe Biden’s nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was chosen out of all the black women in the country. (No one else need apply.)