Unit 2.11 Checks on the Judicial Branch

judicial activism

Philosophy proposing that judges should interpret the Constitution to reflect current conditions and values. Critics argue that judges act to create law and that's for the legislative branch alone.

judicial restraint

A judicial philosophy in which judges play minimal policymaking roles, leaving that duty strictly to the legislatures

nuclear option

a maneuver exercised by the presiding officer in the Senate that eliminates the possibility of filibusters by subjecting votes on certain matters to a simple majority vote

senatorial courtesy

a process by which presidents generally allow senators from the state in which a judicial vacancy occurs to block a nomination by simply registering their objection

standing

a legal rule stating who is authorized to start a lawsuit

Robert Bork

1987 nominated by Ronald Regan to be a Supreme Court Justice, Democratic majority in the Senate prevents him from being instituted, beginning of the extreme politicization of Supreme Court Justices.

Merrick Garland

Nominated to replace Scalia by Obama in March 2016 - never given a hearing by the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee

Clarence Thomas

He was nominated by George H. W. Bush to be on the Supreme Court in 1991, and shortly after was accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill. Hearings were reopened, and he became the second African American to hold a seat in the Supreme Court.