Willi am H. Rehnquist is not going to be Chief Justice forevermuch to the chagrin of Republicans, no doubt. In the last century, Supreme Court Justices have retired, on average, at the age of seventy-one after approximately fourteen years on the bench.1 By the end of the term of the President we elect this November, Chief Justice Rehnquist will have served on the Supreme Court for thirty-two years and reached the age of eighty. The law of averages suggests that Chief Justice Rehnquist is likely to retire in the next presidential term. In addition to replacing Chief Justice Rehnquist, the next Presi dent may also enjoy the opportunity to select at least two other Jus tices. Justice John Paul Stevens, the next most senior member of the Court, will turn eighty-four by the end of the next presidential term and will have served on the Court for thirty years. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the third most senior member of the Court, will have turned seventy-four and have served for twenty-three years. This Review is not intended to be a morbid exercise in the actuar ial sciences. Rather, these numbers serve only to suggest that after six years in mothballs, the Supreme Court appointments process will be returning to active duty in relatively short order. This event will not be universally welcomed because many believe that the confirmation process has become too political or has failed to live up to the original
The First Amendment in Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Comparative
Legal Analysis of the Freedom of Speech. By Ronald J. Krotoszynski,
Jr. New York: New York University Press, 2006. 336p. $50.00.The growing influence of modern foreign laws and legal rulings on the
American model of constitutionalism is a dirty little secret no longer. In
Lawrence v. Texas (2003), Supreme Court Justice Anthony
Kennedy, writing for the majority, made no apologies about his willingness
to consult with rulings from the European Court of Human Rights in holding
that the Fourteenth Amendment's promise of due process of law forbids
the state of Texas from prohibiting sodomy between consenting adults.
Court observers should have seen this development coming: With the
breakdown of the Soviet Union came the emergence of new Western-style
democracies thrust into the position of building new republics from
scratch. American constitutional scholars were called upon in the late
1980s and early 1990s to consult with officials from these countries and
advise them on the drafting of their own constitutions. Constitutionalism
is now a commodity that travels across international lines. The Supreme
Court's controversial method in Lawrence may or may not
signal the beginning of a new era of cross-national consultations by the
high Court. However, it does coincide with a growing interest on the part
of political scientists studying comparative law and comparative
constitutionalism during the past decade.
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