ATL Supreme Court Justices Thread

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I thought we could use a general thread for discussing and listing who would be appointed (and confirmed) to the US Supreme Court in various ATLs. It can be a description or list of who you see appointed (sort of like here, but generally), or it can just be an open question on which candidates are likely in a situation like. For the latter example:

Supposing a Democrat wins in 1968. Would Fortas likely stay on as Justice? And who would be appointed to replace CJ Warren, and Justices Black and Harlan? For Justice Black's seat, are there Amy other liberal originalists of the time that could keep the philosophy alive on the bench?
 
I wonder who Gore might have appointed if he won in 2000. No one retired or died during Bush's first term, but that might not stay true for Gore. If he wins re-election in 2004, he'll certainly end up having a large impact.

Cheers,
Ganesha
 
O'Connor may try to stick it out, but Rehnquist will still pass on; not sure what Stevens or Souter will do in this situation. So we've got two scenarios so far, asking "Who'd be the Justices?":

1) a Democrat in 1968, appointing at least three to the Court
2) Gore in 2000, appointing at least a new Chief Justice
 
Just out of curiosity, are you talking about who a President would have appointed, or the opinion of who should have been appointed over another?
 
A Democrat elected in 1968 would appoint Arthur Goldberg to replace Earl Warren, Archibald Cox to replace John Marshall Harlan, Griffin Bell or Frank Johnson to replace Hugo Black and Shirley Hoffsteder to William O Douglas who retires earlier than OTL.
 
Just out of curiosity, are you talking about who a President would have appointed, or the opinion of who should have been appointed over another?

We should stick with who any President -- ATL or OTL -- could have plausibly nominated (and seen confirmed, unless it's expressly an alternate "failed nomination").


Sounds about right. Does anyone have an answer for Ganesha on who Gore would appoint?
 
A Democrat elected in 1968 would appoint Arthur Goldberg to replace Earl Warren, Archibald Cox to replace John Marshall Harlan, Griffin Bell or Frank Johnson to replace Hugo Black and Shirley Hoffsteder to William O Douglas who retires earlier than OTL.
Pretty solid, though Lorna Lockwood would be more definite than any of those mentioned. Goldberg and Homer Thornberry were probably going to get back under LBJ. A. Leon Higgenbotham shouldn't be ignored, either, though Johnson ruled him out. Nor should Ed Muskie.

Does anyone have an answer for Ganesha on who Gore would appoint?
The usual suspects, with Hillary and Obama as wildcards.
 
Pretty solid, though Lorna Lockwood would be more definite than any of those mentioned. Goldberg and Homer Thornberry were probably going to get back under LBJ. A. Leon Higgenbotham shouldn't be ignored, either, though Johnson ruled him out. Nor should Ed Muskie.

Be a shame to appoint Lockwood, only to see someone else fill her chair when she passes on in 77. Just because I haven't given up on the idea, while I gather Higgenbotham rejected Strict Constructionism, could Frank Johnson, Hiram Thornberry, Muskie, or Hufstedler be called Liberal Originalists (in the mold of Hugo Black)?
 
Be a shame to appoint Lockwood, only to see someone else fill her chair when she passes on in 77. Just because I haven't given up on the idea, while I gather Higgenbotham rejected Strict Constructionism, could Frank Johnson, Hiram Thornberry, Muskie, or Hufstedler be called Liberal Originalists (in the mold of Hugo Black)?
Not at all.
 
Pretty solid, though Lorna Lockwood would be more definite than any of those mentioned. Goldberg and Homer Thornberry were probably going to get back under LBJ. A. Leon Higgenbotham shouldn't be ignored, either, though Johnson ruled him out. Nor should Ed Muskie.


The usual suspects, with Hillary and Obama as wildcards.

If Muskie isn't Vice President, he'd probably try to become Secretary of the Interior instead.
 
Per the book Showdown (about Thurgood Marshall nomination).

Had Marshall nomination failed the backup was William Coleman

Carla Hills was contender for nomination to replace William O Douglas in 1975

Will ponder for more
 
Instead of Ginsberg or Breyer, Bill Clinton could have nominated Anita Hill and set off a battle royale...or he could have nominated Hilary and had a war over it
 
If Hughes wins in 1916 but is unseated in 1920, then a Democrat chooses Chief Justice White's successor.

It occurs to me that John W Davis might get it, in which case (if he still dies in 1955) he'll have the longest tenure since John Marshall, and only a couple of years less than him.
 
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I wonder who Gore might have appointed if he won in 2000. No one retired or died during Bush's first term, but that might not stay true for Gore. If he wins re-election in 2004, he'll certainly end up having a large impact.

It's possible (Possible; though I wouldn't necessarily bet on it) that Souter might retire before 2004.

I don't see Stevens retiring before 2004, but I don't think even Stevens would try to push things beyond 2008.

If you want an idea of what a second term Gore dealing with replacements to SDOC and Rehnquist would be like, check out current situation and multiply.
 
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