A deep bench of substitute justices goes unused

[usregimechange]

Justice John Paul Stevens has been retired from the Supreme Court for more than a month. Maybe it's time to bring him back.

Or perhaps Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Since she left in 2006, she's been crisscrossing the nation denouncing the evils of electing judges rather than appointing them, and serving on important federal and state commissions.

Along the way, she's filled in and decided cases with almost every federal appellate court in the nation. Save one. The one to which she was appointed in 1981.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) is pondering whether a change is needed. He's considering legislation that would allow a retired member of the Supreme Court to replace a justice who has recused himself -- or herself -- in a particular case.

This would avoid the court potentially splitting 4 to 4 on a case and, Leahy hopes, encourage justices to recuse themselves more often when there is an appearance of partiality.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/08/AR2010080802629.html?hpid=topnews

[niyad]

1. after her vote in bush v gore, I don't want her near the court.

[TexasObserver]

2. It's a terrible idea.

Just what we don't need is litigants jockeying to recuse current members to get back some justice no longer on the bench.

Either they're one of the nine justices or not. If the congress wants to increase the number of justices, they could do that.

[Hosnon]

3. I wonder what the constitutional challenges to this would be and if any would stick. nt.