Summer 2010

On Friday, justice John Paul Stevens announced in a letter to President Obama that he will retire from active duty at the end of his term. Stevens has held his seat in the supreme court for 34 years, during which he became the senior associate in the Supreme Court and also emerged as the leader of the Supreme Courts liberal wing.

Stevens replacement selection is bound to set off a partisan battle this summer. The Obama administration has been expecting the retirement but not the timing  of it. Justice Steven’s term will end in June or July. This forces Obama to deal with the ensuing battle that is bound to take place over his replacement.

This is inconvenient for Obama because he wants to do a lot before November. Now he is also faced with finding a replacement that has to be approved by the Senate.

Because of the recent and very controversial passing of the Health Care Bill, Obama’s selection will have to be someone who is very agreeable to both democrats and republicans. This means that if republicans don’t agree with his choice there will be huge delays in approving him.

Regardless of his choice there is bound to be disagreement amongst the two parties. This will make Washington a busy place this summer. Odds are the media will be bad mouthing both parties, but mostly republicans.

Anyway this is very important, and will have an impact on us because if the new justice serves as long as Stevens has, the senior class will be around the age of 52 when he retires.