Who should Rand pick as Supreme Court justice if he becomes President?

[Brett85]

We've had a lot of polls on who Rand's VP pick should be, but who do you think Rand should pick for Supreme Court justice if he becomes President?

[supermario21]

Judge Napolitano!

[Brett85]

My choice is Ken Cuccinelli, although I think Mike Lee would be a really good choice as well, if Rand gets to choose two Supreme Court justices. I think the Judge is too old and wouldn't be on the court for as long as the younger justices. I also don't like his opposition to states' rights on the marriage issue, although others here may agree with him on that.

[Brian4Liberty]

I'd ask Mike Lee and Judge Napolitano if they had any suggestions.

[TaftFan]

Randy Barnett

[Brett85]

Almost all of the Republican judges who are in the appellate courts were appointed by Bush, and it seems pretty unlikely that you would find a libertarian-leaning conservative judge from the appellate courts. So I think Rand would be better off appointing a Senator like Cruz or Lee or a former attorney general like Cuccinelli. I like Cuccinelli since he's been speaking out against over incarceration recently, is opposed to the NSA, and generally seems to be pretty good on civil liberties. At the same time, I like his view that social issues should be handled by the people at the state level, as opposed to a hardcore libertarian judge who would be more inclined to support what they view as "individual rights" over states' rights.

[Brett85]

Randy Barnett

Who is that?

[angelatc]

Who is that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Barnett

He blogs at the Volokh Conspiracy. http://www.volokh.com/author/randy/

[William Tell]

Roy Moore and/or Ken Cuccinelli, Andrew Napolitano would be good as well. John Whitehead would be good. Debra Medina and the Liberty Movement supported John Devine in his race for Texas Supreme Court, he won. I do not know how he has behaved, but someone like him is worth a look. Really we need a whole new Supreme Court.

Not Mike Lee, only because he should stay in the Senate.

[Brett85]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Barnett

He blogs at the Volokh Conspiracy. http://www.volokh.com/author/randy/

Thanks. I would prefer someone younger, as he's 62 years old and would likely be over 65 by the time he were nominated to the Supreme Court. He wouldn't be on the Supreme Court that long. On the other hand, Cuccinelli and Lee are both under 50 and would still be under 50 by that time, and would probably be on the court for over 30 years.

[Brett85]

Not Mike Lee, only because he should stay in the Senate.

We would miss him in the Senate, but a Supreme Court justice has a lot more power than a U.S Senator. And Rand would want to appoint someone he could trust, because Republican Presidents in the past have been burned by justices they thought were conservative, but they didn't know them well enough, and they ended up being liberal judicial activists. Think Stevens, Souter, O'Conner, Kennedy, Roberts, etc. We would know that Lee would be solid and wouldn't waiver, and he would also be really young and would be on the court for a long, long time. We could probably find someone in Utah as libertarian as him to replace him.

[William Tell]

We would miss him in the Senate, but a Supreme Court justice has a lot more power than a U.S Senator. And Rand would want to appoint someone he could trust, because Republican Presidents in the past have been burned by justices they thought were conservative, but they didn't know them well enough, and they ended up being liberal judicial activists. Think Stevens, Souter, O'Conner, Kennedy, Roberts, etc. We would know that Lee would be solid and wouldn't waiver, and he would also be really young and would be on the court for a long, long time. We could probably find someone in Utah as libertarian as him to replace him.

Roy Moore will not be a Liberal Activist Judge

It makes no sense to take Lee out of the Senate, if he leaves anyway, then sure. But there are plenty of Constitutionalists who would do a great job.

[Brett85]

Roy Moore will not be a Liberal Activist Judge

All I know about him is that he's the judge who refused to take down a copy of the 10 commandments in his courthouse when the Supreme Court told him to. What else do we know about him?

[Brett85]

Roy Moore is pretty old as well. He would likely be over 70 by the time he would be nominated for the Supreme Court. On the other hand, Lee is currently 43, and Cuccinelli is 46. I think they would both be better choices because of their age, because they would be on the Supreme Court for a long time.

[William Tell]

Roy Moore is pretty old as well. He would likely be over 70 by the time he would be nominated for the Supreme Court. On the other hand, Lee is currently 43, and Cuccinelli is 46. I think they would both be better choices because of their age, because they would be on the Supreme Court for a long time.

That is a good point.

[presence]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Rogers_Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kozinski
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Gray

some names for consideration

[eduardo89]

I honesty don't understand why people would vote for Judge Napolitano. I like the guy, but he has ZERO chance of ever being confirmed.

I vote Mike Lee.

[satchelmcqueen]

nappy

[Brett85]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Rogers_Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Kozinski
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Gray

some names for consideration

Again, those seem like good choices, but age will be a factor. The goal should be to nominate a Constitutional Conservative/libertarian who will be on the Supreme Court for a long time.

[TaftFan]

All I know about him is that he's the judge who refused to take down a copy of the 10 commandments in his courthouse when the Supreme Court told him to. What else do we know about him?

He banned me from his Facebook page yesterday.

He criticized Alabama's SCOTUS overturning sodomy, and I simply asked why it's any of the government's business.

[TaftFan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Barnett

He blogs at the Volokh Conspiracy. http://www.volokh.com/author/randy/

Speaking of Volokh, what about Eugene?

He is only 46. UCLA professor. Clerked on 9th district and SCOTUS.

[supermario21]

Johnathan Adler, Case Law professor, involved with the Halbig v Sebelius case. Some of the libertarian legal wonks with Cato are actually on the conservative end of the spectrum and could probably get confirmed. Nap would be a dream but he'd be a great solicitor general, as he doesn't need to be confirmed and he argues for the administration.

[Brett85]

He banned me from his Facebook page yesterday.

He criticized Alabama's SCOTUS overturning sodomy, and I simply asked why it's any of the government's business.

It's kind of weird that he banned you. But Ron actually criticized the Lawrence vs. Texas decision which struck down Texas' sodomy law. You can be opposed to laws against sodomy while still believing that it's a states' rights issue.

[TaftFan]

It's kind of weird that he banned you. But Ron actually criticized the Lawrence vs. Texas decision which struck down Texas' sodomy law. You can be opposed to laws against sodomy while still believing that it's a states' rights issue.

But Alabama judges overturned the law, not the federal government.

[Brett85]

But Alabama judges overturned the law, not the federal government.

Yeah, but it still seems to me like it should be up to the voters or to state legislatures to decide. Although I've never read the Alabama Constitution and don't know what it says.

[DGambler]

Me, I'll bring some common sense to that cesspool.

[Vanguard101]

Andrew Napolitano. Mike Lee needs to stay his ass in the senate. I don't want to lose seats in the senate. It's already hard. We literally only have 3 people in the senate. I'd prefer Ken as AG or in Congress but SC wouldn't be bad. If we could somehow get 2 justices there, it would be a tremendous leap for liberty.

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

The snake Sen. Rafael Cruz Jr., because :

1. Another Senator may be the only people Rand could get passed through the Senate.
2. Paul may need to promise a SCOTUS seat to Cruz in order for Canada Ted to endorse Rand and not run himself in 2016.

[Brett85]

1. Another Senator may be the only people Rand could get passed through the Senate.

That's what I was thinking as well. Rand may have to pick either Cruz or Lee for Supreme Court justice just to be able to get a like minded person passed through the Senate. The Senate doesn't usually vote against one of their own.

[Occam's Banana]

I don't understand the Napolitano for SCOTUS thing. I would much rather see him as Attorney General. Then he'd be in a position to pro-actively get things done - instead of twiddling his thumbs while sitting on his ass behind a big bench (probably only to end up on the "minority" side of most decisions anyway). But it doesn't really matter anyway, except as a pleasant fantasy - neither of those things is ever going to happen. He'd never make it through the confirmation process for either position. Only "Team Federal" players need apply ...