What to Expect from the Media in the SCOTUS Nomination Process

[Joanne98]

Last year, when Justice Souter announced his retirement, Media Matters created this very helpful guide to the most common media myths about the Supreme Court. It's worth dusting off again.

MYTH: Liberals -- but not conservatives -- engage in "judicial activism"

Media frequently suggest liberal judges, but not conservative judges, engage in "judicial activism" -- which media figures often characterize as legislating from the bench. For example, Fox News contributor Fred Barnes said of the process of replacing Souter, "Republicans do have a role here, and it's to talk about judicial activism and the dangers of it"; Barnes also stated that "liberal judicial activism" is "entirely results oriented." And radio host Laura Ingraham recently asserted that Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whom media have cited as a possible Supreme Court nominee, has "been described as judicially liberal, which means you don't favor the principle of judicial restraint." Ingraham later added that Sotomayor is "a traditional liberal and does not believe in, I think, a strict adherence to separation of powers."

But a 2005 study by Yale University law professor Paul Gewirtz and Yale Law School graduate Chad Golder showed that among Supreme Court justices at that time, those most frequently labeled "conservative" were among the most frequent practitioners of at least one brand of judicial activism -- the tendency to strike down statutes passed by Congress. Those most frequently labeled "liberal" were the least likely to strike down statutes passed by Congress.

After Roberts and Alito, after Citizens United, the liberals as judicial activists is going to be a very difficult for any pundit to maintain. But they'll try.

MYTH: Diversifying the court would be inconsistent with nominating justices based on merit

Some media figures have suggested that a deliberate effort by Obama to diversify the court by nominating a woman and/or a member of a racial or ethnic minority would mean that Obama's nominee was not chosen based on merit. Such arguments ignore a different explanation -- that the over-representation of white males means that qualified women and minorities have been consistently excluded from the court....

MYTH: Obama suggested he will nominate someone who shows "empathy" rather than a commitment to the law

Media have falsely suggested that Obama has said that he will seek a replacement for Justice Souter who demonstrates the quality of "empathy" rather than a commitment to follow the law. In fact, Obama has said that judges should demonstrate both....

MYTH: Obama said it was a "tragedy" that the Supreme Court had not pursued the "redistribution of wealth"

Continued>>>
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/4/12/855705/-What-to-Expect-from-the-Media-in-the-SCOTUS-Nomination-Process

[Supersedeas]

1. thanks for the link