Presidential forum highlights divergent views on Supreme Court

By Eric Fingerhut - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - Web Link
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August 19, 2008

When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was asked Saturday night which member of the U.S. Supreme Court he would not have nominated, the Republican presidential candidate didn't just name his least favorite justice.

He picked four -- the group commonly identified as the more liberal wing of the court, including the two Jewish justices, Ruth Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer -- citing their "legislating from the bench."

McCain's answer at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency -- an event in a Lake Forest, Calif., church aimed at evangelicals -- bothered some Jewish activists.

The issue isn’t that McCain would have wiped out Jewish representation on the court, but rather that he would have eliminated a whole worldview from the justices' deliberations. And, Jewish communal observers say, the clear contrast the candidates drew on judicial nominees could lead to the issue taking on a higher profile in the campaign.

While McCain zeroed in on the entire liberal bloc, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told the forum's moderator, Pastor Rick Warren, that he would not have nominated Justice Clarence Thomas because he did not believe Thomas was qualified at the time of his appointment. Obama added that he wouldn't have nominated Justice Antonin Scalia, another of the court’s staunch conservatives, because "he and I just disagree."

The potential stakes are high when it comes to the Supreme Court.

The judges McCain said should not have been appointed to the court, including Justices John Paul Stevens and David Souter, really represent centrist viewpoints, not classically liberal positions, said Mark Pelavin, the associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

"If you take away those votes, by any fair reading, the court would move significantly to the political right,” said Pelavin, whose organization generally stakes out liberal positions on domestic affairs -- in keeping with what polls suggest are the views of an overwhelming majority of American Jews.