Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy should be applauded for retiring when he did, giving President Donald Trump and the Senate plenty of time to confirm a replacement ahead of the midterms, The Wall Street Journal wrote in its editorial.
"A replacement with the best chance of keeping the Court tethered to the Constitution," the WSJ wrote.
Further, the High Court should start its October term with a full complement of justices, something that might take three years to accomplish with a possible Democratic Senate, if Kennedy hadn't stepped down when he did.
"The 81-year-old Justice Kennedy has done right by the country and the Court," WSJ wrote.
"A Republican nominee also offers the best chance to sustain Justice Kennedy’s legacy, despite the fear and loathing you hear on the left," the Journal writes.
"Democrats are already predicting the demise of abortion rights, the end of gay marriage, and no doubt we’ll be hearing about the revival of Dred Scott before the confirmation hearings on Justice Kennedy’s replacement are over," the Journal wrote.
However, chief justice John Roberts is not likely to take the court down a path of overturning gay marriage so soon, "lest it make the Justices seem too political," WSJ writes.
The new court also is not likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, not on a 5-4 decision, given the amount of times the Supreme Court has upheld it, WSJ writes.
"Our point is that replacing Justice Kennedy should not be the legal war to end all wars. A single Justice will not turn the Court sharply to the right, and Republican Senators should not be intimidated by hyperbolic Democratic claims designed to fire up their voters for the November election," WSJ writes.
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