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To the Point

The Supreme Court and the End of Judicial Restraint

To the Point

KCRW

News

4.4583 Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2018

⏱️ 50 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Senate confirmation for SCOTUS nominees has become a political circus. That’s because unelected judges have seized legislative powers--when Congress fails to take action. Ruth Bader Ginsburg says Roe v. Wade is bad constitutional law, even though she agrees with the outcome. Should abortion have been left to the voters? Will Brett Kavanaugh make a difference?

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello again, I'm Warren Aldi.

0:03.8

Confirmation hearings for President Trump's latest Supreme Court appointment began the first week of September with a predictable partisan scuffle.

0:13.0

Mr. Chairman, if we cannot be recognized, I move to adjourn.

0:16.0

The American people...

0:17.0

Mr. Chairman, I move to adjourn.

0:20.0

...theirman, I move to adjourn. Judge Kavanaugh is one of the most distinguished judges.

0:28.5

Mr. Chairman, I think we ought to have this loud mouth removed.

0:33.7

But despite the commotion, there wasn't much doubt that Brett Kavanaugh would be approved by the Senate.

0:39.8

In future decisions by the High Court, some of the nation's most controversial issues are likely to be at stake.

0:46.3

Gun control, civil liberties, the role of regulatory agencies, the power of the White House, and of course, abortion.

0:53.8

The court is likely to be divided,

0:56.0

five conservatives, two, four liberals. Calvinaw's vote could be crucial. But how is it that so few

1:03.1

people have come to have so much power? Here is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

1:10.4

She is a supporter of a woman's right to abortion.

1:13.6

She is also a critic of the court's decision in Roe v. Wade, the ruling that made that procedure

1:20.2

legal in all 50 states. The difficulty with Roe v. Wade, which did make every law in the country unconstitutional, even in the

1:30.3

four states that had abortion at a woman's choosing in the first trimester for whatever

1:38.3

reason or no reason. So it established a target. Roe v. Wade.

1:45.0

That case name is probably the best known case

1:49.0

of the second half of the 20th century.

1:54.0

And a movement against access to abortion for women

2:00.0

grew up, flourished around a single target. And what

...

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