Morning Jolt: Living Under the Sword of Damocles That Is Elderly Supreme Court Justices

For at least a generation, we've lived with elderly Supreme Court justices. Last year, David Ingold of Bloomberg noted, "With two current justices more than 80 years old and a third joining them next year, the projected age when a justice will leave the Supreme Court is now about 83 — that's a 10-year increase from the 1950s."

We live in an era of judicial supremacy, decisions that some would argue constitute judicial activism . . . and in any given year, at least a handful of justices who are old enough to join the cast of a reboot of The Golden Girls. It's sort of a Damocles Sword for our system of laws — at any given moment, one of the nine might announce a retirement or move on to the Pearly Gates and suddenly "alter the balance of the Court," ushering in a period of dramatically different interpretations of the First Amendment, Second Amendment, the commerce clause, and "emanating penumbras" than just a few years earlier.

However, it's fair to wonder just how much Justice Anthony Kennedy's departure will really alter ...

June 28 2018

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Living Under the Sword of Damocles That Is Elderly Supreme Court Justices Jim Geraghty For at least a generation, we've lived with elderly Supreme Court justices. Last year, David Ingold of Bloomberg noted, "With two current justices more than 80 years old and a third joining them next year, the projected age when a justice will leave the Supreme Court is now about 83 — that's a 10-year increase from the 1950s." We live in an era of judicial supremacy, decisions that some would argue constitute judicial activism . . . and in any given year, at least a handful of justices who are old enough to join the cast of a reboot of The Golden Girls. It's sort of a Damocles Sword for our system of laws — at any given moment, one of the nine might announce a retirement or move on to the Pearly Gates and suddenly "alter the balance of the Court," ushering in a period of dramatically different interpretations of the First Amendment, Second Amendment, the commerce clause, and "emanating penumbras" than just a few years earlier. However, it's fair to wonder just how much Justice Anthony Kennedy's departure will really alter ... Read More ADVERTISEMENT Top Stories No, Really: Delete Your Accounts Heather Wilhelm Social media rewards jerky behavior, encourages mass jerkdom in the larger populace, corrupts journalism, corrodes empathy, encourages fakery, deprives arguments of context, distorts reality, spreads unhappiness, and on and on and on. After Janus, Conservatives and Teachers' Unions Should Collaborate Max C. Eden After Janus, conservatives and teachers' unions have greater opportunity for collaboration. Trump and Putin to Hold First Official Summit Next Month Mairead McArdle President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will hold their first official summit on July 16 in the capital of Finland. ADVERTISEMENT The Room Where It Happens Josh Blackman Supreme Court watchers and the press often grasp for any tea leaves they can find. SCOTUS Stands Up for Public-Sector Workers The Editors In a win for the First Amendment, the Supreme Court ends forced collection of union fees from government employees. The Supreme Court Delivers Another Stinging Rebuke to Anti-Free-Speech Authoritarians David French In three key cases this term, the Supreme Court delivered stinging rebukes to anti-free-speech authoritarians. Burma Backslides toward Ethnic and Religious Conflict Doug Bandow Burmese hopes for a more peaceful and prosperous future after decades of tyranny and strife are receding. Schumer: Forcing Vote on Kennedy's Replacement Before the Midterms Would be 'Absolute... Jack Crowe The Senate minority leader is calling on his Republican colleagues to delay deliberations on President Trump's eventual nominee until after this November's elections. ADVERTISEMENT JOIN NRPLUS All Our Content. Fewer Ads. Members-Only Privileges. NRPLUS is everything you would associate with a digital magazine subscription, and a whole lot more ─ including up to 90% fewer on-site ads, access to our private Facebook group, full commenting privileges, and invites to our writer/editor conference calls. SAVE 40% TODAY Photo Essays Gathering Storms Cartoons of the Day: June 26, 2018 ADVERTISEMENT Follow Us & Share 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser.