Ahead of the 2020 election, leftist organization Demand Justice has released a list of potential nominees for the Supreme Court should a Democrat win the White House.
"In 2016, Donald Trump released a shortlist of possible Supreme Court picks, and it succeeded in rallying conservative voters to his side. In 2020, the Democratic candidates running for president should also state what kind of justices they would appoint. Doing so would show their commitment to the Supreme Court as an issue and draw a clear line in the sand about what is at stake in the coming election," Demand Justice released in a statement. "To prod the candidates, Demand Justice is releasing its own Supreme Court shortlist of possible nominees in the next Democratic administration. Our list is made up of brilliant lawyers who have spent their careers fighting for progressive values and represent the diversity of our nation."
"In releasing this list, we also hope to make clear that the next Democratic president ought to approach the task of nominating judges with a new playbook––one that prioritizes unabashedly progressive lawyers and legal thinkers, who have all too often been pushed aside," the statement continues.
According to the Judicial Crisis Network, an organization that has supported nominees like Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, the Demand Justice list is quite radical.
These people are radicals. This list is a dream come true for far left activists who seek to turn the courts into a political super-legislature. https://t.co/AIPzWfNFyv
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) October 15, 2019
Only 8 of the 32 potential nominees on this list have judicial experience. Which makes sense - they're looking for activists, not judges.
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) October 15, 2019
Trump's list - with the sole exception of Sen. Mike Lee - was all judges, bc they were chosen for judicial philosophy, not political views.
This is an attempt to return the Court to 1960’s style judicial activism - left wing judicial tyranny. They keep losing elections, so now they're trying to pack the courts and get their agenda done with radical activist judges.
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) October 15, 2019
The group also released criteria Democrat candidates should use when selecting nominees. It's so far left, current liberal Supreme Court justices wouldn't qualify.
My take on the 32-member #SCOTUS short list: by excluding law firm partners, @WeDemandJustice excludes most of the people Hillary Clinton would have picked. Justice Sotomayor would also be out. https://t.co/qhJXkgkyuZ pic.twitter.com/u8s5TKnNLz
— Josh Blackman (@JoshMBlackman) October 15, 2019
Even SCOTUSBlog is knocking it.
The @WeDemandJustice list is a diverse group that many will view as highly qualified potential SCOTUS nominees. But it does not remotely resemble anything like a plausible Democratic shortlist—whether or not it should. It just represents an ideal of the party’s progressive wing.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) October 15, 2019
In the meantime, President Trump has not only successfully placed two Justices on the Supreme Court, but has nominated, with the Senate confirming, federal judges at record pace.