The 2008 Election And The Future Of the Supreme Court

Las Vegas Lawyers Chapter

Speaker:

• M. Edward Whelan III, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Speaker:

• M. Edward Whelan III, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Mr. Whelan is a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Ninth Circuit Court Judge J. Clifford Wallace. He has served the U.S. Justice Department and as General Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Justice John Paul Stevens is 88 years old, and five other justices range in age from 69 to 75. The next President
may well have the opportunity to reshape the Supreme Court. What will the 2008 presidential election mean for the future of the Supreme Court? How would John McCain and Barack Obama differ in the sorts of candidates they would select for the Supreme Court? What prospects would their nominees face in the Senate's confirmation
process? And how would their Supreme Court picks rule on hotly contested issues?