that s emblazoned on the above the supreme court entrance way is true. equal justice under law. and as she said, he stood for the idea of a fair shake for all americans. that s something that the republicans just can t afford to be on the wrong side of. and they set themselves up to be run over by kagan and by half the democrats on the senate panel, as well. yeah, the idea that they, and among they, i m including one of the kiebler elves. are they trying to push that marshall saw himself as above the actual law or not constrained by the actual law because he would rule what he thought was best for the country and what was right and just? put this into context in terms of kagan s nomination for us. well, as i say, she stressed the point that what the record of marshall really stands for and what the record of the so-called activist court of the warren years in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s stood for, was
and did anyone see john isner on letterman last night? and talking about the kagan hearings. we continue onward, you and i have seen a lot of these hearings, elena kagan talked a lot about military recruitment at harvard, obviously that s a big moment for the republicans. the nominees are so well versed, are so careful not to get into these deep philosophical debates on how they might rule on things. you re seeing partisan scoring on both sides. allegations that democrats would turn it into an activist court is not correct. democrats trying to point out someone who has politicized the process at times. again, unless something big comes out, and it hasn t yet,
round of supreme court confirmation hearings. justice anthony kennedy declined to offer advice to the nominee elaine that kagan, joking that if you ask him what makes a good judge, you are going to get an autobiography. that during unusually frank comments at a bar association meeting in florida. justice kennedy also discussed the way congress grills nominees. saying lawmakers spend too much time trying to figure out where they stand on particular issues. just to ask questions to try to figure out how the judge would rule on a specific question seems to me a rather short-term exercise. what you should ask is whether the judge has the temperament, the commitment, the character, the learning. to assume those responsibilities. shepard: maybe congress is listening. he also waved off the now familiar criticism of activist judges saying a so-called activist court is any court that makes a decision that somebody doesn t like. former first lady laura bush
that s ridiculous. said some awfully nice things. we appreciate it. thank you very much. do you think it s bad for this country, bad for washington, bad for our political system that the supreme court picks have become so politicized, or is this an extra theirly powerful position and we should have everybody tearing through everything these people have ever written? it s much more of the latter obviously. the court became an activist court in the 1950s and has continued to be at the epiof some of the most radioactive social issues of our time and especially in this political climate, it s not unusual for this to become the kind of political free-for-all that it probably will. look, i was out west over the weekend and i didn t get nearly the attention in this end of the countries that i thought that it might have. bob bennett got thrown out of the republican party in utah. that is an astonishing
jeff sessions has said. this is the most activist court in my lifetime. they rewrote the law to say women could be paid less than men. they said age discrimination laws won t apply if corporate interests don t want them do. rewrote the law to give exxon mobile a $2 billion windfall. they rewrote the law to say that corporations could come in and medal in elections in this country. all this went against the laws of this country. the question i asked is whether you think a nominee should unite the country? i think a nominee, if republicans and democrats want to set aside politics, stop listening to the single issue groups, either the far right or the far left, they can. remember, john paul stevens was nominated by a republican president who was facing election. he was a conservative republican and a democratic-controlled