LOUISVILLE, Ky. — University of Louisville Constitutional Law professor Sam Marcossan said it makes sense that tensions are running high on both sides of the aisle over who will become Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's successor on the United States Supreme Court because there is a lot at stake with the cases coming up on the docket.
“We are entering an unpredictable, controversial, and difficult time both for the country and for the court, whichever way it ends up going,” Marcossan said.He said the court already has a fairly strong conservative majority.
"You have a pretty overwhelming conservative majority if President Trump gets to fill that seat and it would be hard to imagine the court not taking a pretty strong turn to more conservative outcomes, way of looking at the Constitution, interpreting statutes, etc," Marcossan said.
The Nation's high court is set to hear oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act on Nov. 10, which is one week after the election. Marcossan said, if a new justice is not confirmed by that point, there will be an even number of justices which brings about the possibility of a split vote. If that were to happen, it would affirm the lower court's decision.
Marcossan said this vacancy leaves a lot of uncertainty, especially if the presidential election is contested and gets appealed up to the Supreme Court.
“If there is a confirmed justice and his or her vote becomes critical to deciding election contests, that could also call into question for many people the legitimacy of the court’s actions because they will regard the new Justice as illegitimate, “ Marcossan said.
President Donald Trump said he plans to name a nominee by the end of the week. It would take a simple majority in the Senate to confirm that nominee.