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Tim Kaine vice presidential campaign, 2016/Supreme Court
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This page was current as of the 2016 election.
See what Tim Kaine and the 2016 Democratic Party Platform said about the Supreme Court below.
Kaine on the Supreme Court
- On October 28, 2016, in offering up a "prediction" on the Supreme Court nomination process should Merrick Garland not receive consideration "during a post-election lame duck session," Kaine said, "We will change the Senate rules to uphold the law, that the court will be nine members ... I was in the Senate when the Republicans’ stonewalling around appointments caused Senate Democratic majority to switch the vote threshold on appointments from 60 to 51. And we did it on everything but a Supreme Court justice ... If these guys think they’re going to stonewall the filling of that vacancy or other vacancies, then a Democratic Senate majority will say, ‘We’re not going to let you thwart the law.' ... The battle is: Do we want a lawfully constituted full court or will we let the Republicans have a hobbled, limited and weakened court? ... The voters are going to stop them, or we’re going to stop them." Kaine also noted that "I think there’s still a significant likelihood that Merrick Garland will get a vote before the end of the year."[1]
- On September 27, 2016, Kaine announced that he was a co-sponsor of a resolution calling for a hearing and a vote on the nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland before the Senate adjourns for its next recess. The resolution would prohibit the Senate "from adjourning, recessing, or convening in a pro forma session unless the Senate has provided a hearing and a vote on the pending nomination to the position of justice of the Supreme Court of the United States."[2]
- As members of the U.S. Senate held meetings with President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, Roll Call asked each senator what was discussed. Kaine told Roll Call that he told Garland he would "encourage colleagues to 'respect the traditions of the Senate' and the Constitution."[3]
- On May 17, 2016, Tim Kaine made remarks on the Senate floor to acknowledge the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. In his speech, Kaine stressed the importance of having a nine-member Supreme Court and shared how many Virginia constituents perceive the fact that President Obama's Supreme Court nominee has not received a hearing. Kaine said in part, "While most know what the Brown case resolved, few remember that the Brown ruling was in serious jeopardy because of the death of a Supreme Court Justice and the deep divisions among the remaining 8 members. It was only through the prompt filling of a judicial vacancy that the Court could come together and render a ruling in America’s best interest. The Brown case was originally argued in 1952 and the Court that heard the argument was hopelessly divided, so divided in fact that they asked that the case be reargued in 1953. And then, to make matters worse, Chief Justice Fred Vinson died before the reargument. By many accounts, his death left the Court evenly divided over an issue of the deepest importance. Had the vacancy persisted, there is no way of predicting whether the Supreme Court could have even resolved the case. Imagine how different our history would have been if the Supreme Court was unable to decide on a matter of such fundamental importance. But, President Eisenhower nominated former California Governor Earl Warren to fill the vacancy. The Senate did its job, held a prompt hearing and confirmed his appointment. And Chief Justice Warren then used his skill to cut through the division and convince his colleagues that the Court should speak unanimously and say that a child’s skin color should not determine which school he or she should attend. Because the Senate did its job, the Court was able to do its job. And all America was lifted."[4]
- On the majority leader's announcement shortly after Scalia's death that no nomination by President Obama would ever receive a hearing or a vote, Kaine said, "I conclude that the majority’s rationale—we should not take up the Garland nomination because the vacancy has occurred in the final year of a Presidential term—is at odds with the text of the Constitution, with the clear meaning of the text as explained during the drafting of the provision and with the clear line of Senate action in previous cases. So, what explains the majority’s blockade of Judge Garland? I obviously do not know their motivations and cannot comment on them. But I can discuss how it appears, based on my discussions with Virginians. The current Senate blockade is variously interpreted as an attack on the nominee, on the particular President making this nomination or on the very notion of judicial independence."[4]
- Addressing the nominee's qualifications and record, Kaine said, "And, now that Judge Garland has been nominated, we also know that the majority blockade is not about the character of the nominee. Judge Garland has an esteemed record as a prosecutor, private practitioner and federal appellate judge on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. His judicial service alone is approaching the twenty-year mark on a court that most believe is second in importance only to the Supreme Court. No member of the majority has yet found any credible weakness in his background, integrity, experience, character, judicial temper or fitness for the position. Indeed, the majority’s senior member, a respected former chair of the Judiciary Committee, has praised Judge Garland as exactly the kind of jurist who should be on the Supreme Court. In my recent interview with Judge Garland, I came away deeply impressed with his thoughtful manner and his significant experience as a trial attorney and judge. This is no ivory tower jurist but instead a man who understands the real life struggles of plaintiffs and defendants, lawyers and juries, legislators and citizens, who depend upon the Supreme Court to give clarity and guidance to the rules that impact the most important issues of their lives. We should give President Obama his due in proposing a nominee with impeccable credentials. So, I reject the notion that the majority’s opposition is about the nominee. In fact, a determination that Merrick Garland was not of “fit character” to even receive consideration as a Supreme Court Justice would set such a high bar for appointees that it’s hard to imagine anyone ever clearing it."[4]
- On March 16, 2016, Kaine released a statement on President Obama’s nomination of Chief Judge Merrick Garland—a federal appellate judge for the District of Columbia—to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kaine wrote, “Merrick Garland is a well-respected jurist with impeccable qualifications and unrivaled experience. His legacy as an attorney includes overseeing high-profile domestic terrorism cases. He has also garnered enthusiastic support from Democrats and Republicans in the past, which should leave Republicans in the Senate no excuse for obstructing his confirmation process. Justice demands that the Senate provide advice and consent for any Supreme Court nominee. I commend President Obama for fulfilling his constitutional duty. It’s time for the Senate to do the same.”[5]
- Read what the 2016 presidential candidates and other vice presidential candidates said about the Supreme Court.
| The 2016 Democratic Party Platform on the judiciary | ||||||
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Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Roll Call, "Tim Kaine predicts possible 'nuclear option' over Supreme Court nomination," October 31, 2016
- ↑ Tim Kaine United States Senator for Virginia, "Press Release: SENATE DEMOCRATS: NO VOTE ON GARLAND NOMINATION, NO RECESS," September 27, 2016
- ↑ Tim Kaine United States Senator for Virginia, "Meeting with Merrick," April 25, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Tim Kaine United States Senator for Virginia, "KAINE ON OBSTRUCTION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: WE CANNOT BLIND OURSELVES TO HOW OUR ACTIONS ARE PERCEIVED," May 17, 2016
- ↑ Tim Kaine United States Senator for Virginia, "Press Release: Kaine Statement on the Nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court," March 16, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Democratic Party, "The 2016 Democratic Party Platform," accessed August 25, 2016
