Non-Breyer SCOTUS Nominees

[politicallefty]

I was always hoping a Ginsburg retirement or Court expansion would elevate Goodwin Liu. I'm still disgusted that Democrats allowed him to be filibustered. Fortunately, Jerry Brown stepped in and gave him a seat on the CA Supreme Court, so he's still very much in contention for a future nomination. I've long wanted to see him on the Court. Democrats would have to control the Senate though, as there's no chance he'd get through a Republican Senate.

Srinivasan always struck me as someone that Democrats wanted to have in place as a relatively easy confirmation to replace Kennedy or one of the conservatives. I'm not sure how a relatively easy confirmation works now, unless one side holds a commanding majority in the Senate.

[politicallefty]

Lord no. Thurgood Marshall was a wonderful attorney; he might have made a great legislator, as he certainly acted like he was one while on the Court, but as a judge, he was an absolute disaster.

Have you become an originalist now, or merely a Kagan-esque textualist?

Neither. Rather, it's that in the absence of an explicit Constitutional provision to the contrary, I believe courts should give full deference to the legislative branches at both the Federal and State level. I strongly advocate the primacy of the legislative branch. Courts have no business determining if laws are good, wise, or popular, just if they are Constitutional. (Similarly, I believe that Chevron deference is sound judicial practice with respect to giving the executive branch the primary function of interpreting legislative intent.)

I generally think those that proclaim "legislating from the bench" are merely just screaming about a decision they didn't like. I would agree with your general premise about legislative primacy (I would actually go further and argue for legislative supremacy). I think the only issue with INS v. Chadha is that it violated bicameralism, not the Presentment Clause or separation of powers. I would argue that only a one-house legislative veto is impermissible, but a two-house legislative veto would be allowed under an appropriate paradigm.