Next President Will Pick Scores of Judges

The next president's most enduring legacy may be in an area little mentioned in the campaign so far: the federal courts, where rulings on such hot-button issues as abortion, gay marriage and the death penalty could have lasting impact. With an aging Supreme Court, it's likely that over the next four years either President Bush or Democrat John Kerry will choose one or more new justices, along with scores or even hundreds of federal appeals court and trial judges. Courts can have the crucial last word on important and contentious issues, as recent rulings on affirmative action and presidential war powers attest. But chances are most voters won't hear specifics about the kind of judges either candidate favors. 'As a campaign issue I think it's been almost invisible,' said Supreme Court historian David Garrow. That's a departure from the 2000 campaign, when both Bush and Democratic nominee Al Gore pointed to particular Supreme Court justices they admired and partisans on both sides spoke with certainty about an expected Supreme Court retirement. Four years later, not one Supreme Court justice has left the bench. That makes it even more likely there will be an opening sometime soon, law professors and activists said." [more ]