Alito, 76, is one of six conservative justices on the nine-person Supreme Court

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative lean wouldn’t change if Alito retired and Trump nominated a new justice. But Alito’s retirement would allow Trump to appoint a fourth justice to the court. Alito was nominated by then-President George W. Bush in the fall of 2005 and took his seat on the bench in January 2006.

Trump has lashed out at the Supreme Court for several rulings against him on controversial issues like his sweeping tariff policy and his challenge to birthright citizenship. Alito sided with Trump on those two issues.

The timing of a Supreme Court justice’s retirement is crucial because the party in power can change the court’s political leaning for decades.

  • HAL_9_TRILLION@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    Roll the dice. They don’t get more loathsome than Alito. Pardon me, for a moment I forgot that Thomas exists. Fuck it, roll the dice anyway. Maybe we get a non-lizard-person by accident.

    • bedwyr@piefed.ca
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      7 hours ago

      The federalist society was created just so we don’t get a non lizard person in by accident, and since it’s inception, we haven’t had a single one, even as they were majority until that point in the modern era.

      They handpick these guys from law school and groom them and make sure they won’t come down with a case of morality. Picking guys they have evidence of crimes on probably helps in that respect.