Giorgio: The Obama Court

Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Paul Giorgio, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

President Barack Obama has only made two appointments to the United States Supreme Court, yet the court in this past week has handed President Obama several key victories.

Last week was clearly a momentous week for the Obama Presidency, with his legacy Obama Care or the Affordable Care Act declared legal once again by the Supreme Court of the United States.

SCOTUS in a 6 to 3 decision with Chief Justice Roberts joining the majority ruled that state healthcare exchanges were legal. Roberts, you may recall was appointed by George W. Bush and thus is a conservative.

Affordable Care - Obama's Legacy

So Healthcare now joins Social Security and Medicare, which were also challenged by Republicans, as the law of the land. Every American can now get healthcare no matter what their circumstances. No more denials because of pre existing conditions.

This law will be President Obama’s legacy.

Later that week, Friday to be exact, the Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, something President Obama and the Democrats have championed for several years.

The Court voted 5 to 4 to legalize Gay Marriage under the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment, with Judge Anthony Kennedy, who was appointed by Ronald Regan joining the majority. Kennedy also wrote the majority opinion for the court.

Republicans Need to Read the Constitution

There were immediate calls from Republican Presidential candidates to do everything from disband the court or impeach the justices. The most vocal on this subject was Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R-Canada). There were even calls to defy the court order. No such hue and cry went up from these Republicanswhen the Court ruled in Citizens United, that corporations were people.

It is clear that several Republican candidates have never read the constitution, specifically the clause about the three co -equal branches of government.

Obama’s third victory in less than a week came in a voting rights case, Kobach, et al. v. Election Assistance Commission, et al. The court upheld a decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled that you did not have to prove citizenship in order to register to vote for Federal elections.

There has been a concerted effort in this country to discourage voter turnout by communities of color, who tend to vote Democratic. This involves IDs when voting ostensibly to prevent voter fraud. This by the way does not really exist.

In addition to these state laws, the Republicans in Congress have been blocking re enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1964.

Three Monumental Decisions

These three monumental decisions occurred with a court that has five justices appointed by Republican Presidents. Chief Justice Roberts has voted twice to support Obama Care, While Justice Kennedy has voted consistently for marriage equality. The result of this has been calls for impeachment, that haven’t been seen since Chief Justice Earl Warren cast the deciding vote in Brown v The Board of Education, which integrated public schools. Sign were put up in the South saying, “Impeach Earl Warren”.

Obama Can Reshape the Court

Obama has had a great deal of success before the current court. It appears that he will have at least one more seat to fill before he leaves office. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 79 and has been ill. In addition, Anthony Kennedy has been on the court for 24 years and is 76, as is Anthony Scalia who is the longest serving Justice at 26 years.

Kennedy is more likely to resign than Scalia who loathes Obama and wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of naming his replacement. If this happens, President Obama would have appointed 3 and possibly 4 justices of the court. This has not happened in a long time. Franklin Roosevelt actually appointed eight justices in his four terms. President Eisenhower appointed five justices, the most for any two term president in modern times.

The only question that remains is whether the Republican Senate will attempt to black Obama’s appointments, if he gets any. My bet is that they will try, but public opinion will force them to acquiesce to the President.