# Obama on the Supreme Court? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 28, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930 "2016-10-28T14:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/1 "2016-10-28T14:02:02Z")
It struck me, and I wonder why it hasn’t been discussed more in the general media: if Hillary is elected, why not nominate Obama to join the Court? She may have opportunities past filling the Scalia vacancy, where I assume she would move forward with Merrick Garland. I Googled and found this from a WaPo blog: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/13/could-president-obama-one-day-join-the-supreme-court/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/02/13/could-president-obama-one-day-join-the-supreme-court/) In that article, they mention Hillary was asked at a Town Hall and praised the idea. Obama, when asked, said he needed time away from the bubble. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/2 "2016-10-28T14:09:10Z")
Although he has a law degree and was editor of his university law review – he’s never actually practiced law, has he? Let alone sat on the bench. I know it would not be unprecedented, but it seems as though Hillary would be able to find much more qualified (and less inflammatory) SC candidates. It’s not like she’s going to have free reign to appoint anyone she wants. The GOP would certainly filibuster an Obama nomination, assuming the Dems have the senate majority. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/3 "2016-10-28T14:10:01Z")
A - he probably doesn’t want it, if nothing else because he doesn’t want to be low man on the totem pole. (The newest justice has to play gopher a lot, like making coffee and holding open the door. No, I’m not kidding.) B - he’d have to recuse himself a lot, which would rather defeat the point much of the time (ok, he doesn’t HAVE to, but realistically he SHOULD). C - He’s never sat on a bench before. Granted, he did teach constitutional law part-time for a bit, but there’s hundreds more qualified candidates. D - It’s not a good use of his post-presidential time. E - He might set a record for shortest Supreme Court tenure, as Michelle is definitely going to kill him when she finds out. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/4 "2016-10-28T14:12:14Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Although he has a law degree and was editor of his university law review – he’s never actually practiced law, has he? He was a junior associate for about four years. Which I don’t think particularly damages your point. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/5 "2016-10-28T14:13:53Z")
I say put Michelle on the Supreme Court instead. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/6 "2016-10-28T14:19:25Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Although he has a law degree and was editor of his university law review – he’s never actually practiced law, has he? He did practice at a law firm called Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He worked there as an associate for three years, and of counsel for several years after that. Remember the 2008 attack about his representation of Tony Rezko? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/7 "2016-10-28T14:29:50Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > A - he probably doesn’t want it, if nothing else because he doesn’t want to be low man on the totem pole. (The newest justice has to play gopher a lot, like making coffee and holding open the door. No, I’m not kidding.) This would be the big one. Not so much the being the junior justice, but because he just finished 8 years as a modern president stuck in the white house bubble and he’s going to want to be free of that for a while, and even if he gets that out of his system in just a couple of years I don’t think he’d want to get back into a different bubble. He probably wants to leave Washington, have a schedule of his own choosing if any kind of fixed schedule at all. Let’s say Hillary is in for 8 years, then maybe after 4 or more years he would consider it, but even then I’d still expect not. O think SC justice is the kind of thing career judges aspire to, doesn’t really sound like him. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/8 "2016-10-28T14:43:47Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > He did practice at a law firm called Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He worked there as an associate for three years, and of counsel for several years after that. Remember the 2008 attack about his representation of Tony Rezko? The [PolitFact article](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jan/22/hillary-clinton/a-fragment-of-truth-distorted/) on that does not agree he “represented” Tony Rezko: > [@](#): > > In one of the most heated exchanges of the Democratic debates, Hillary Clinton on Monday night fired off this pointed attack on Barack Obama: > “I was fighting against those (Republican) ideas when you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago.” > > Asked later to respond, Obama said, “Here’s what happened: I was an associate at a law firm that represented a church group that had partnered with this individual to do a project and I did about five hours worth of work on this joint project.” > […] > Reporter Tim Novak reported that Obama was an associate attorney with the small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, that helped Rezmar and not-for-profit community groups secure more than $43-million in government funding to rehab 15 apartment buildings for the poor. Four ended up in foreclosure. > […] > "The senator, relatively inexperienced in this kind of work, was assigned to tasks appropriate for a junior lawyer,‘’ according to an e-mail from Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. "These tasks would have included reviewing documents, collecting corporate organizational documents, and drafting corporate resolutions.‘’ Doesn’t sound like something that qualifies you for the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/9 "2016-10-28T14:49:22Z")
Dream big. First make him Governor-general of the Philippines, then bring him back for the Supreme Court, and so scoring a Full Taft. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/10 "2016-10-28T14:50:32Z")
I’m pretty sure he would [del]refuse to step on this land mine[/del]turn down such a generous offer. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/11 "2016-10-28T14:51:55Z")
Seems unlikely for all the reasons mentioned, AND a President Clinton will have better uses for her time and political capital than dealing with even-more-apoplectic Obama-haters in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/12 "2016-10-28T14:54:03Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Doesn’t sound like something that qualifies you for the Supreme Court. I was just correcting the error. I wasn’t trying to argue that his law firm experience qualifies him for the Supreme Court. That said, I think it’s wrong to call him unqualified. He is a lawyer who has both practiced and taught law. And he also happens to have been both a Senator and President of the United States. Those experiences would be tremendously helpful to being a Supreme Court Justice. But I would settle for a new judge who has done _something_ substantial other than corporate law practice and appellate judging. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/13 "2016-10-28T15:03:52Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > That said, I think it’s wrong to call him unqualified. He is a lawyer who has both practiced and taught law. And he also happens to have been both a Senator and President of the United States. Those experiences would be tremendously helpful to being a Supreme Court Justice. Yes, he is certainly qualified, and well above the minimal level of qualifications. I only see the political issues and his personal desires to be a question here. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/14 "2016-10-28T15:07:48Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yes, he is certainly qualified, and well above the minimal level of qualifications. I only see the political issues and his personal desires to be a question here. Oh, for sure. Obama could no doubt do much more outside the Court than on it, and that alone is reason enough not to do it. That said, I think someone with Obama’s temperament would be a great choice. Notwithstanding the GOP narrative over the last 8 years, he’s a natural mediator. I suspect there’s a little of that in Roberts too. I worry about the institutional legitimacy of the court, and I think we need to be thinking about justices who have the capacity to build consensus rather than ideological bomb-throwers. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/15 "2016-10-28T15:10:43Z")
Well as a constitutional lawyer he sure didn’t seem to understand the constitution as President. Like when he tried to give amnesty to about 5 million illegal immigrants and the Supreme Court him that no he couldn’t actually do that. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/16 "2016-10-28T15:14:48Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Doesn’t sound like something that qualifies you for the Supreme Court. Anybody who can be nominated and confirmed is “qualified” in Constitutional terms. I don’t think you even need a law degree, or to be admitted to the bar anywhere. But I agree with the consensus - he wouldn’t accept the nomination even if Hillary asked him. Neither he nor she needs the black eye when the nomination goes down in flames. The confirmation hearings would be sheer comedy gold, though. “So, Mr. Obama, have you ever served as a judge?” “No”. “Have you ever worked full-time as a lawyer?” “No.” “Do you currently hold a license to practice law in any state?” “No.” “Have you ever taught law?” “Yes, I have done that.” “Was that full-time?” “No, that was part-time too.” "You stated at one point > [@](#): > > Ultimately, I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress. In the course of your preparation to teach Constitutional law, did you ever happen across a decision called _Marbury v. Madison_?" “Hey, give me a break. I **said** it was part-time.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/17 "2016-10-28T15:17:34Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > That said, I think it’s wrong to call him unqualified. He is a lawyer who has both practiced and taught law. And he also happens to have been both a Senator and President of the United States. Those experiences would be tremendously helpful to being a Supreme Court Justice. I think it’s reasonable to expect a Supreme Court Justice to have worked in a courtroom before. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/18 "2016-10-28T15:20:09Z")
He has worked full-time as a lawyer. I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept that while arguing that he’s not otherwise qualified. > [@CarnalK](#): > > I think it’s reasonable to expect a Supreme Court Justice to have worked in a courtroom before. It’s reasonable. It’s just wrong. It’s like insisting that the head of NASA be an engineer. No doubt, understanding engineering is an important part of the job. But it is also possible to be qualified because of your extraordinary management skills, or some other set of qualifications. All the more so if NASA is governed by a council of nine people, and the other eight are all engineers. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/19 "2016-10-28T15:34:26Z")
When was the last Supreme with no court experience? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930/20 "2016-10-28T15:36:26Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > He has worked full-time as a lawyer. I don’t know why it’s so hard to accept that while arguing that he’s not otherwise qualified. Because he didn’t work full-time as a lawyer. Part time isn’t full-time. I believe I have explained this to you in the past. _:shrugs:_ Regards, Shodan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-on-the-supreme-court/769930.md?page=2)