REHNQUIST RETIRES???

The Drudge Report (no separate link other than the homepage) says Pres. Bush will now get his chance to put a stamp on the Court -- Chief Justice William Hobbs Rehnquist will retire after 34 years on the Court. Based on a report by Robert Novak on CNN, Drudge says Chief Justice Rehnquist will retire by informing the President when Mr. Bush's plane returns from Scotland later today.

If Novak's correct: Now the fun really begins.

Rehnquist's retirement allows Bush to fill in three spaces on the Court: promote a sitting Associate Justice to Chief Justice, then appoint two Associate Justices. The three possible candidates on the Court for Chief Justice are Kennedy (ugh), Scalia and Thomas. The latter two will have huge political fights, the former will have conservatives tearing their hair out. The alternative is appointing a new Chief Justice and a new Associate Justice.

The Monk says: no promotions from within. Only three previous Chief Justices were promoted from Associate Justice: Edward White (1888-1910), Harlan Fiske Stone (1941-46) and Rehnquist (1986-present). The Stone Court was a chaotic mess; the White Court made rulings that are roundly scorned today, some with very good reason (Plessy v. Ferguson).

The Rehnquist Court will have a number of legacies: (1) incrementalism; (2) division; (3) diminishment. The Court has taken fewer than 100 cases per year for basically all of the last 10+ years of Rehnquist's term as Chief. The incremental approach championed by Justice O'Connor has increased the Court's power by allowing it to continue opining on issues it continually leaves unresolved, but has diminished the Court's prestige. And the rather unseemly 5-4 splits on important issues was a fixture of the Court. A new Chief Justice from outside the Court may be able to exercise considerable influence over the unruly personalities currently on the bench (which CJ Warren did after CJ Vinson died).

The Monk's suggestion: pound the Left HARD with two nominations: a Chief and an Associate Justice. For Chief: Wallace Jefferson, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, a steadfast conservative who is African-American. Quota pick? No chance: Jefferson's resume has accomplishments galore. He also has great personal presence. If not Jefferson, the J. Harvie Wilkerson III -- a well-respected (and unquestionably conservative) judge on the Fourth Circuit.

For Associate Justice: in a perfect world, Danny Boggs, Alex Kozinski, Edith Jones or Frank Easterbrook. Otherwise, I want the Repubs to force-feed Edith Clement or Emilio Garza down the liberals' throats.