Supreme Court Shake-Up Could Happen at Any Time

December 17, 2004

Liberals and conservatives do agree on one thing — the top position on the U.S. Supreme Court is going to be vacant soon. And when George W. Bush names a replacement, an all-out war is sure to commence. But just how soon will both sides need to be at the ready?

In October the court announced that Chief Justice William Rehnquist was being treated for an apparently serious form of thyroid cancer. News of his condition and his future on the bench has been contradictory since that time. Early reports that Rehnquist would be back to work shortly proved to be overly optimistic—he has been working from home since his diagnosis was released.

Recently Rehnquist accepted Bush's invitation to preside over the president's swearing-in at the Jan. 20 inauguration—a role the Chief Justice traditionally fulfills. Directly on the heels of that announcement came news that Rehnquist would not be weighing in on Supreme Court cases heard in November.

So what's going on here? Apparently the court, and perhaps Rehnquist himself, is trying to paint as rosy a picture as possible of his health and ability to perform the job. Information that portrays a bleaker picture is only made public when absolutely necessary.

The court understandably does not want to kick off—even a second too soon—the fevered debate that a resignation and pending replacement would bring. But how much are the Bush administration and their right-wing cronies influencing the information flow on Rehnquist's status?

Obviously it's in Bush's best interest to keep liberals lulled into thinking a resignation is further down the road than it really may be. Convincing everyone that Rehnquist will administer the oath of office in mid-January and then springing a resignation announcement over the December holidays is not inconceivable with this bunch.

That's why NOW has not slowed down our preparation for a Supreme Court battle. We know that it is imminent and we want our members and everyone who cares about women's rights and civil rights to be ready to act at a moment's notice.

Some feminists and other progressives ask why we should be so concerned about this particular resignation. Rehnquist is one of the most conservative justices, after all, so how much can it matter if Bush replaces him with another ultra-conservative? Well, it could matter a lot.

Rehnquist is 80 years old right now, but his replacement will probably be little more than half that age. Note that when fellow conservative Antonin Scalia was sworn in, he was 50 years old and Clarence Thomas was only 43 on his first day! With Rehnquist's departure, Bush will have the opportunity to extend the Supreme Court's right-wing warranty for decades. Another consistent vote against women's and civil rights will be locked-in, with the potential to affect the reproductive freedom of women not even born yet!

We know that we must be vigilant. Feminists will need to contact their Senators as soon as an announcement is made to demand that they block any Supreme Court nominee who doesn't support women's basic rights. Your action at that time will be more important than ever.

Stay tuned for the latest updates from NOW. If you haven't already, sign-up for NOW's action alert list to stay on top of this and other critical issues. When the time comes, we'll get the word out and give you the tools you need to help preserve the rights of women and girls for generations to come.