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by dllthomas 1004 days ago
Not speaking to the broader questions, and I certainly have problems with Trump and the current court, but calling 3 appointments unprecedented is just wildly off base. The record is held by Washington on a technicality, but 4 or more successful SCOTUS appointments isn't uncommon in our history - the most recent was Reagan.
2 comments
jfengel 1003 days ago
3 appointments in one term is unprecedented.

Especially because of the dubious nature of the first one. The vacancy lasted over a year, because the opposition party refused to vote. This is an enormous shift in power, for purely partisan reasons.

It was not illegal, but it's a complete breakdown of any sense of civil order. It's "fair" in the sense that two can play at that game, but that would lead to a complete logjam of the system.

Had it not been for that, he'd have nominated two members of the Court in a single term. That would be more than most, but not nearly the push of a permanent partisan majority with explicit intent of marginalizing the opposition.

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dllthomas 1003 days ago
> 3 appointments in one term is unprecedented.

This is simply false. For instance, Hoover successfully appointed 3 justices and only served a single term. Taft appointed 6! Harding appointed 4 despite only living 2 years of his term.

"Unprecedented in recent times" is weaselly but accurate. "Unprecedented" gives those who don't know better an inaccurate picture of the past and makes those who do know better wonder what else you're confidently wrong about.

None of that is to say I don't object to the shenanigans - I do.

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reducesuffering 1004 days ago
That is not the gotcha you think it is…
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dllthomas 1004 days ago
It doesn't undermine the argument but I wasn't speaking to the argument. It's just not the case that more than 2 appointments per term is all that unusual. Calling it unprecedented deserves pushback.
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reducesuffering 1003 days ago
Sure, unprecedented is too strong. In the last 12 presidencies, all of them have appointed 2 or fewer justices except for Nixon and Reagan at 4, and Trump at 3. It’s precedented for Republican presidents to appoint an extraordinary amount of justices…
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dllthomas 1003 days ago
FDR was 9 over his 3 terms.
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