Crisis Of The Half-Justice

Crisis Of The Half-Justice

If President Bush nominates Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, he won't be naming a new justice. He'll be naming something more like a new half-justice.

A Justice Gonzales would have to recuse himself from cases dealing with a wide range of issues -- from the Patriot Act to partial-birth abortion -- because of his high-level service in the Bush administration...

Much like Rehnquist had to recuse himself in the early days of his associate justice tenure after his work in the Nixon Justice Department. Which makes Gonzales, in a twisted icky Republican sort of way, an apt successor.

No retirement today. Buzz on the internet over the weekend was that it would be O'Connor, not Rehnquist, who would step down. I have a sneaky feeling that Rehnquist won't retire and his seat will only be vacated by his demise.

Politics