The selection of a deeply conservative jurist to replace the late liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is not sitting well with some women on the Eastside.
In 2016, they formed an organization in reaction to the president’s election, Plateaupians 4 Peace. This nomination has them riled up.
“The thing that’s bothering me the most is that there is a process in place to make sure the right people are put into the job,” said Hayley Gudgin.
She is one of several women who came together, having bonded over their opposition to the election of President Trump.
It pushed Gudgin to forsake her British citizenship to become an American so she could vote. And she worries about the president’s nomination of a U. S. Supreme Court justice with deeply conservative credentials.
“Regardless of their political association privately, they need to be seen as being neutral,” said Gudgin, “to follow the law rather than their personal interests.”
The politics are concerning to Pam Stuart, a local politician herself, who compares a justice’s job to that of an umpire.
“As an umpire the best you can hope for is that half the people don’t hate you after the game is over,” said the Sammamish city councilmember. “But that’s okay. That’s what you sign up for. And that’s what you sign up for as a politician, that you do things fairly and consistently. And you serve the people, not your party.”
“The notion, that of a non partisan, a political Supreme Court, it’s a great idea,” said Dr. Margaret O’Mara, “but history shows us that hasn’t been the case.”
The presidential historian and University of Washington history professor says what is different is just how powerful the Supreme Court has become.
“The court became more powerful when it stepped back from being as obviously partisan,” said O’Mara, “and was seen as a more impartial body that could be kind of above the fray of politics. So in a way, by making this confirmation process so partisan, then that creates (a) runway for the other branches of government to kind of overrule and just ignore what the court says. And we also have precedent for that in American history.”
She says that means there are political risks for both sides. So stay tuned.