As we head into the fall election, the fate of the Supreme Court is an issue that should be on most liberals' minds. As has been discussed here, the next president will be absolutely crucial in determining the Court's direction, first and foremost because they will likely soon replace John Paul Stevens, who, at 88 years of age (recently citing his memories of Prohibition-era Chicago in a judicial opinion), is the second-oldest Justice in the Court's history (behind only Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who was just short of 91 when he retired).
Beyond him, however, I decided to look at the composition of the Court as a whole; beyond Justice Stevens, what does the next four or eight years hold for President Obama or President McCain, and, more broadly, what do the next 30 years hold for the United States?
As a preface, I'll say that past Stevens, the next President's first term prospects are a bit slim; a full eight years is a better prospect, but, in a greater sense for liberals, there's a depressing lack of opportunity to really influence the Supreme Court's composition, in all likelihood, within an eight-year Obama presidency.
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