ELLIOT MINCBERG: There’s no question that the addition not only of (Justice Samuel) Alito but most recently of Gorsuch to the court has given new energy to those on the far right and they were able to succeed in getting Justice Kennedy, who is himself pretty conservative to go along with them in all of those very troubling cases. No question that we need to win more presidential elections and get people appointed to the Supreme Court a lot more like (Justice Sonia) Sotomayor and (Justice Elena) Kagan and (Justice) Ruth Bader-Ginsburg who have done a heroic job in dissenting from those decisions. But as bad as those decisions are, it could be even worse if Trump can put another Gorsuch or somebody else from his list on the Supreme Court to replace Kennedy.
BETWEEN THE LINES: What’s at stake in your view in terms of Supreme Court rulings in the future that could affect generations to come? What are some of the high stakes issues that the justices will likely be deciding in the years ahead?
ELLIOT MINCBERG: Well, we’re really talking all the marbles. I mean, there are cases already on the court’s docket that relate to abortion, to lots of other issues. But Kennedy has been the thin dividing line that’s made the difference between, for example, overturning Roe v. Wade, which the right really wants to do and preserving some reproductive rights for women. That one is high on the chopping block. If they’re able to get someone like Gorsuch in to replace Kennedy, challenges to the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Trump has a lawsuit going now with Mr. (Jeff) Sessions that tries to argue that it’s unconstitutional for Congress to require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. Add a justice like Gorsuch to the court and there’s serious concern about what happens in a case like that. LGBTQ rights, equal marriage rights. Others. Kennedy was the author of many of those crucial decisions and there’ve been clear indications from the conservatives on the court that they’d like to get rid of that awful decision, according to them. Stopping executive abuse – he was the deciding vote in the author of the opinion that said that President Bush couldn’t lock people up at Guantanamo without at least a writ of habeas corpus, that one could be gone, too. All these and more are seriously threatened if you have another Gorsuch or someone potentially even worse replacing Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
BETWEEN THE LINES: Certainly one of the options that Democrats have is to convince one of a handful of Republicans who are on the record opposed to the overturning of Roe v. Wade to oppose a nominee that would likely do that. And that includes (Sen.) Susan Collins of Maine and (Sen.) Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. But then there’s the problem of red state Democrats who are in a tough election years. (Sen.) Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, (Sen.) Joe Manchin in West Virginia, (Sen.) Joe Donnelly in Indiana, (Sen.) Claire Mccaskill in Missouri are four that I’ve heard may be convinced to support a Trump nominee. Can you tell us a little bit about what’s in play here and what you’re leaning towards as a wise and effective option?
ELLIOT MINCBERG: Well, you are absolutely right. There is a narrow path to victory here for progressives and the path goes through those six states. Right now, the Senate is only 50-49 because Sen. (John) McCain is unlikely to return from Arizona.
So that means we need to hold the Democrats, almost all of them, and get a net of one Republican vote. And that’s not easy, but it’s definitely doable. We’ve already begun efforts to reach out to people in those states and try to get them to contact their senators.
We’re looking very carefully at all the statements they’ve made. Sen. Collins, for example, has talked about it. She doesn’t want to see a traditional activist. The primary contenders for the Supreme Court seat are exactly that and that needs to be explained very carefully. But whether the method used is to actually vote a nominee down or potentially to vote in the Senate to delay considering a nominee, which are majority of the Senate will do, we need that. We need a majority of the Senate and we’ve already begun efforts. And it’s critical to have people like your listeners involved with that, too, to convince those six senators and others, although most other Democratic senators, I think are pretty clearly on the right path already from the statements they’ve made. But to convince, I would say five out of six of those senators to do the right thing, whether it’s on a procedural vote or a vote on the merits on the nominee.
