Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer played down the effect the absence of a ninth justice will have the court’s decisions in a discussion at the Newseum in Washington Thursday. The Supreme Court resumed its work this week after the weekend funeral for the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
“We’ll miss him, but we’ll do our work,” Breyer told NBC News’s Pete Williams, who was moderating the discussion, according to NBC News. “The cases come along.”
Breyer argued that only 20 percent of cases come down to a 5-4 ruling, where Scalia’s vote would have made the difference. (In the case of a 4-4 decision, the lower court’s decision stands and there is no precedent.)
Since Scalia’s death, Republicans in the Senate have vowed to keep the seat vacant until the next president is elected, denying President Obama the chance to chose a nominee.
“For the most part, it will not change,” Breyer said. Williams then pointed out that it could be an eight-person court for a while.
“That’s your determination,” Breyer responded.
According to CNN, at the forum, Breyer also dodged a question about the meaning of the phrase “advise and consent” in the Constitution, which has been debated as Democrats push Republicans to consider a Supreme Court nominee.
The question came after Breyer had just been asked about the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision.
“I thought there couldn’t be a question that would be more controversial at this very moment than the one that was asked before but you’ve come up with it,” Breyer responded, getting laughs, after he was asked about “advise and consent.”
Hurray for bipartisanship. A conservative justice (Alito) and a liberal one (Breyer) both chiming in to take pressure off of the GOP to do the bare minimum that the Constitution calls for by at least holding hearings on replacing a Supreme Court justice.
Yeesh Mr. Justice. Thanks for nothing.
So, does this mean that Kennedy will consistently vote GOTPbag for the sake of maintaining “balance”?
Scalia: The petitioner needs five votes to overturn the judgment below, and it makes no difference whether the needed fifth vote is missing because it has been cast for the other side, or because it has not been cast at all.
Justice Thomas, how is your heart feeling these days? Any flutters? Pains in your left arm?
Well, that’s his job, isn’t it, to shore up confidence in the court? The R’s have been undermining that confidence for decades. No reason any Justice should join them in that.