# What happens if a supreme court justice was assassinated for obvious political reasons? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181 "2018-07-02T19:08:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/21 "2018-07-03T14:58:25Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > There is an argument for Paul Wellstone. Not really. [His Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wellstone#Death) pretty thoroughly documents the fact that the pilot and co-pilot were a couple of third-rate fuck-ups flying right at stall speed moments before the crash, and there was never any evidence of foul play found on the plane itself or any of the victims. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/22 "2018-07-03T15:01:24Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > In what sense was Merrick Garland not rejected by the Senate? In the sense that he was rejected only by McConnell and Grassley. We don’t know what the Senate would have done. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/23 "2018-07-03T15:01:35Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I’m guessing the OP isn’t asking about what technically/legally would happen, but rather what the political consequences would be. > > 1. If the President’s party holds the Senate majority, then it all depends on the mercy of the President in question. Say someone shoots Sotomayor during Trump’s presidency. Then it all depends on whether Trump wants to be “classy” and nominate a moderate or liberal to replace the deceased liberal, or whether Trump wants to replace a Sotomayor with a Pryor and swing SCOTUS hard to the right. There is nothing, other than the self-restraint of the POTUS and his party, to prevent them from doing so. > 2. If the President’s party is in the minority in the Senate, then there’s a good chance that any nominee who isn’t of the similar bent as the one that just got assassinated will be blocked. If Senate Democrats were in the majority, and Trump tried to replace a Sotomayor with a Pryor (or even a Garland,) they wouldn’t allow that. Yes, that’s it. If, for example (and God forbid), a left leaning judge were assassinated right now, with the _express purpose_ and known motive of getting a right leaning judge as a replacement (and I really hope I’m not on a watchlist right now, this is \*not \*something I want), I imagine there would be immense pressure to replace them with a similar leaning judge. But I simply cannot see that happening, honestly regardless of who the president was. And would republican senators keep downvoting any nominee who wasn’t to the left? I seriously doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/24 "2018-07-03T20:10:24Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Heh. Beat me to it. And me, too. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/25 "2018-07-03T20:26:10Z")
Conservative Justice, conservative President, conservative Senate: New conservative Justice. Conservative Justice, conservative President, liberal Senate: New conservative Justice. Conservative Justice, liberal President, conservative Senate: Senate process stalled until the next election resulting in a conservative President or liberal Senate. Conservative Justice, liberal President, liberal Senate: New liberal or center Justice Liberal Justice, conservative President, conservative Senate: New conservative Justice. Liberal Justice, conservative President, liberal Senate: New conservative Justice. Liberal Justice, liberal President, conservative Senate: Senate process stalled until the next election resulting in a conservative President or liberal Senate. Liberal Justice, liberal President, liberal Senate: New liberal or center Justice. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/26 "2018-07-03T20:28:25Z")
The only difference between this and a normal death of a SCOTUS justice would be that there could be a steep political cost for nominating a justice who is the opposite of the deceased one. Trying to replace a murdered far-lefty with a far-righty could cost Republicans big at the polls, making moderates and centrists vote against the GOP. Ditto if Democrats tried to replace a murdered far-righty with a far-lefty. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/27 "2018-07-03T21:54:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … Conservative Justice, conservative President, liberal Senate: New conservative Justice. … This is, I think, the outcome of the midterm elections the Dems are hoping for (that they retake the Senate, as well as the House but that’s immaterial to the issue of judicial confirmations). If they do so, and by some miracle Kennedy’s SCOTUS seat is still unfilled, do you think they intend to confirm any of the conservative candidates on Trump’s list? My impression is that they do not. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/28 "2018-07-03T22:02:04Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is, I think, the outcome of the midterm elections the Dems are hoping for (that they retake the Senate, as well as the House but that’s immaterial to the issue of judicial confirmations). If they do so, and by some miracle Kennedy’s SCOTUS seat is still unfilled, do you think they intend to confirm any of the conservative candidates on Trump’s list? My impression is that they do not. The conservatives will cry ‘Unfair!’ and the liberals will fold. Maybe they’ll deny the first candidate but they’ll settle for some conservative in the end. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/29 "2018-07-05T11:29:27Z")
I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet. A conservative with 4 bullets could reset the calendar to 1850. Imagine a court where Donald picks every single justice. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/30 "2018-07-05T13:59:58Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet. A conservative with 4 bullets could reset the calendar to 1850. Imagine a court where Donald picks every single justice. Yet another argument for limiting magazine capacity. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2018, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/31 "2018-07-05T14:00:36Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’m surprised this hasn’t happened yet. A conservative with 4 bullets could reset the calendar to 1850. Imagine a court where Donald picks every single justice. Perhaps we’re better people than you give us credit for. Or perhaps we realize that natural causes stand a pretty good chance of resolving the issue for us, at least in the case of the octogenarians. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/32 "2018-07-06T04:51:20Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Yet another argument for limiting magazine capacity. > > Regards, > Shodan When all semi-automatics are outlawed, all would-be assassins will have 6-shooters. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181/33 "2018-07-06T14:56:06Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is, I think, the outcome of the midterm elections the Dems are hoping for (that they retake the Senate, as well as the House but that’s immaterial to the issue of judicial confirmations). If they do so, and by some miracle Kennedy’s SCOTUS seat is still unfilled, do you think they intend to confirm any of the conservative candidates on Trump’s list? My impression is that they do not. It’s possible. But Chuck Schumer hasn’t made any of the sort of silly categorical statements that McConnell did during The Great Garland Delay (“we will not vote on any nominee submitted by this administration” etc.) so it’s also possible that they would. That said, despite his rhetoric I assumed McConnell’s endgame was to force Obama to submit an even more centrist nominee than Garland back then, rather than to take the rather astonishingly bold step of actually refusing to confirm anyone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-a-supreme-court-justice-was-assassinated-for-obvious-political-reasons/817181.md?page=1)