For Supreme Court, Guns are the New Abortion

Today, the Supreme Court began what will likely be its last term with the current lineup of Justices. Eighty nine year old Justice Stevens recently telegraphed his intentions when he hired only one clerk – the number allotted to a retired Justice – for the 2010-11 term. And Justice Ginsburg is battling the deadliest of all cancers, pancreatic cancer.

It’s no secret that the Committee for Justice would be more comfortable if a president other than Barack Obama were to replace Justices Stevens and Ginsburg, but it appears very unlikely that either Justice will be on the Court when the next presidential election is held. The real question is whether there will be one or two Supreme Court vacancies in the months before the 2010 midterm elections.

With the impending vacancies in mind, CFJ Executive Director Curt Levey has penned a piece exploring why “guns are the new abortion” in the politics of Supreme Court appointments. The piece, which appears at FOXNews.com today, explains that in the wake of the Sotomayor confirmation battle

“The political dynamics of nominating and confirming judges has been forever altered. Abortion rears its head in virtually every Supreme Court or hotly contested lower court confirmation contest. Gun rights will now do the same, especially as the explosion of Second Amendment litigation guarantees that more and more judicial nominees will have relevant rulings, briefs, articles, and speeches to scrutinize and debate.

“Abortion opponents have been the most influential part of the coalition opposing liberal judges and judicial activism. But the new, gun-owning gorilla in the room matches the pro-life movement in numbers and surpasses it in ability to influence moderate Republican and Democratic senators. And there’s no comparable countervailing force on the other side. ...

“In the end, the payoff for gun rights advocates may be found as much in the selection of judges as in the confirmation process. . . . Expect Obama and his Democratic successors to borrow a page from Republican presidents, who have shied away from nominating outspoken opponents of abortion for the past two decades.”