Justice Ginsburg

[hamilton02 at aol.com]

Sandy--  I'm sincerely curious here.  What is "Rehnquist-like 
denial/narcissism?"

Marci

Marci A. Hamilton
Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Yeshiva University
55 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY  10003


-----Original Message-----
From: Sanford Levinson <SLevinson at law.utexas.edu>
To: RJLipkin at aol.com; jca at stanford.edu; CONLAWPROF at lists.ucla.edu
Sent: Thu, 5 Feb 2009 4:31 pm
Subject: Re: Justice Ginsburg

 From my perspective, this is just more fodder for the need either to 
elininate life tenure (though Justice Ginsburg wouldn't be out under my 
preferred 18-year term) or to adopt the Carrington-Cramton proposal 
whereby a new justice would indeed be appointed at the end of an 
18-year term and the post-18 year justice would be able to sit on 
circuit, as Justice O'Connor is now doing, or fill in when a Supreme is 
forced to recuse him/herself for any reason, including illness.  Or, of 
course, we could adopt a version of the 25th Amendment to apply to 
judges and forestall Rehnquist-like denial/narcissism.

Sandy



From: conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu

To: jca at stanford.edu ; CONLAWPROF at lists.ucla.edu

Sent: Thu Feb 05 15:16:06 2009
Subject: Re: Justice Ginsburg



        Wherein lies
the authority behind these practices? Or are they merely practices 
derived
ad hoc? More importantly, what happens if a Justice has a prolonged
illness rendering h
im or her unable to perform judicial functions, but 
who
insists on remaining on the Court or is in a permanently comatose
state leaving no instructions concerning prolonging (or not) his or her
life?
 
        These seem
like a critically important issue raising problems that cry out for
comprehensive legal solutions.
 
Bobby
      
Robert Justin
Lipkin
Distinguished Professor of Law
Widener University School of
Law
Delaware

Ratio Juris,
Contributor: 
http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/
Essentially Contested
America, Editor-In-Chief http://www.essentiallycontestedamerica.org/

 

In a message dated 2/5/2009 4:04:31 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
jca at stanford.edu writes:
It's not
   rare for one or more justices to be unable to vote, usually because 
they have
   recused themselves (stock holdings, the Justice or a relative is 
somehow
  involved in the case) but also because of illness.  A majority of the
   Justices who remain is required for a decision; an equally divided 
vote always
   results in "affirmed by an equally divided Court" with no 
precedential effect,
   no matter what the reason.  A Justice going into the hospital is by 
no
   means unprecedented.  It's not like the President where someone has 
to
   have the nuclear codes.  And Chief Justice Rehnquist went through a 
long
   illness -- diagnosed20in Oct. 2004, missed 44 oral arguments, died in 
office in
  Sept 2005.  He was also hospitalized earlier for a back problem and
  addiction to painkillers.

At 11:53 AM 2/5/2009, RJLipkin at aol.com
  wrote:

          While I'm sure we're all
     hoping for Justice Ginsburg's successful surgery, her situation 
raises a
     host of issues about how the Court functions when a Justice is 
unable to
    perform his or her responsibilities.  Are there are specific rules
     governing this matter? Am I right in saying an 8-3 decision stands 
as
    law?  What happens in split decisions?  Finally, what if a Justice
     cannot perform his or her functions and is unable to express a 
decision to
    resign?  Any information on these issues would be
    appreciated.
 
Bobby
     
Robert Justin
    Lipkin
Distinguished Professor of Law
Widener University School of
    Law
Delaware

Ratio Juris, Contributor: http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/
Essentially
     Contested America, Editor-In-Chief 
http://www.essentiallycontestedamerica.org/


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