BY Herschel Smith
26 minutes ago
David Codrea.
That puts a quick end to a speculative recommendation made Wednesday by attorney and Four Boxes Diner host Mark Smith, who made a compelling case that, due to their ages, Alito, 76, and Thomas, 78, “should consider making this personal sacrifice for the good of the country” and resign immediately contingent on suitable replacements being confirmed.
If such a scenario were to play out, the question of “Who?’ would become paramount. Arguably foremost among potential candidates would be Lawrence Van Dyke of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, whom Bloomberg Law acknowledges as “the court’s most vocal defender of gun rights,” and who called for the Supreme Court to administer some “benchslaps” against the inferior court’s “wayward Second Amendment decisions.” There’s also U.S. Appeals Court Judge Thomas M. Hardiman, whom The Washington Post tells its readers is “seen as ‘Second Amendment extremist,” and Judge Raymond Kethledge, whom National Review credits as a justice who “vigorously defends — and exercises — individual rights under the Second Amendment.”
I’m not sure I would be happy with anyone except James Ho. But given the nature of the senate nowadays (consider Thune), I’m not sure it would be possible to get Ho through the senate confirmation process. Anyway, it’s all irrelevant with the democrats taking over the congress.
I expect at some point in the future we won’t have the SCOTUS to depend upon for gun rights. In fact, I’m not really sure we do now truth be told.
