President Obama is taking his responsibility to appoint the next Supreme Court justice seriously, he asserted Wednesday.
“It’s a duty that I take seriously, and one that I will fulfill in the weeks ahead,” Obama wrote in a guest blog post for SCOTUSblog. The person he nominates will be “eminently qualified” and have “a mastery of the law,” Obama wrote.
“He or she will have an independent mind, rigorous intellect, impeccable credentials, and a record of excellence and integrity. I’m looking for a mastery of the law, with an ability to hone in on the key issues before the court, and provide clear answers to complex legal questions,” the president wrote. He added that he is considering “judges who approach decisions without any particular ideology or agenda, but rather a commitment to impartial justice, a respect for precedent, and a determination to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand.”
But that person, the president continued, will also have a “keen understanding that justice is not about abstract legal theory, nor some footnote in a dusty casebook.
“It’s the kind of life experience earned outside the classroom and the courtroom; experience that suggests he or she views the law not only as an intellectual exercise, but also grasps the way it affects the daily reality of people’s lives in a big, complicated democracy, and in rapidly changing times,” Obama added. “That, I believe, is an essential element for arriving at just decisions and fair outcomes.”
On Tuesday, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said they will not hear any Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia. Instead they will wait until the next president is sworn into office.
