McCain Picking on Jewish Supreme Court Justices?

When Pastor Rick Warren asked Senator John McCain to name his least favorite current U.S. Supreme Court justices it seemed that he was picking on the Jewish members of our highest court.

Eric Fingerhut of JTA summed up the situation well in his article titled, "Presidential forum highlights divergent views on Supreme Court."

When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was asked Saturday night which member of the U.S. Supreme Court he would not have nominated, the Republican presidential candidate didn't just name his least favorite justice.

He picked four -- the group commonly identified as the more liberal wing of the court, including the two Jewish justices, Ruth Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer -- citing their "legislating from the bench."

McCain's answer at the Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency -- an event in a Lake Forest, Calif., church aimed at evangelicals -- bothered some Jewish activists.

The issue isn’t that McCain would have wiped out Jewish representation on the court, but rather that he would have eliminated a whole worldview from the justices' deliberations. And, Jewish communal observers say, the clear contrast the candidates drew on judicial nominees could lead to the issue taking on a higher profile in the campaign.

Please click here to read the entire article and see how top Jewish community leaders respond, including our own Executive Director, Ira N. Forman.

Jewish Democrats are promising to play up McCain’s answer about the justices.

"It summarizes the stakes of the election," said Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

Comments

[Kind Soul]

Re Jewish Supreme Court Justices
I am an Anglican, formerly an Episcopalian. It continues to amaze me why others feel it necessary to persecute Jews and have done so for centuries.

I just turned 71 years young, yet did not learn much about discrimination until during college. I went to college in the late 50's early 60's. To me, the best from that era would be a Black, Jewish, female with some type disability. All the former three had to work at least twice as hard to become attorneys, doctors, etc.

My first 78 rpm record was Heifitz playing Beethoven's violin concerto in D. In the early 70's, before Perlman became famous, my wife and I heard him at OSU.

My first real knowledge of a Jew "doing good" was in the early 1950's when I read "Scottsboro Boy" and learned of Mr. Leibowitz and his tenacious defense of another American tragedy.

I later learned of the tragedy of Leo Frank in Georgia.

DADGAGCAC (Day after day, generation after generation, century after century,) Jews have contributed and continue to contribute to ALL of society.

Brandeis, Cardozo, et al., were excellent justices. Ginsburg and Breyer still are.

I believe that the late Justice Frankfurter was among those who formed the ACLU about 90 years ago. Jewish USSC or SCUS justices have, to my knowledge, all been dedicated to the Rule of Law, Due Process and Equal Protection.

True, I am aware of Justice Fortas' resignation, but I believe his conduct was not illegal, just exceedingly less than wise.

And I agree that militants (which at times have included Christians, The Crusades, etc.); who believe, e.g., Iran, that Jews should have been or should be eliminated are exceedingly dangerous and must be prevented by all means necessary, from attaining their goals.

By the way: I worked side by side with a Kurdish-American and a Palestinian-American. They too were fine people, but of a different religion.

Columbus, Ohio is fortunate to have many outstanding Jews among its demographics.

And I am a registered republican

Kind Soul, a registered service mark
Columbus Ohio
Send love/hate mail to JADOG@Safe-mail.net

:) Email me for shipping address to send Kosher slivovitz, NY pastrami, etc. :)
2008-10-21-3 12:02 -0400

[Kind Soul]

I am an Anglican, formerly an Episcopalian. It continues to amaze me why others feel it necessary to persecute Jews and have done so for centuries.

I just turned 71 years young, yet did not learn much about discrimination until during college. I went to college in the late 50's early 60's. To me, the best from that era would be a Black, Jewish, female with some type disability. All the former three had to work at least twice as hard to become attorneys, doctors, etc.

My first 78 rpm record was Heifitz playing Beethoven's violin concerto in D. In the early 70's, before Perlman became famous, my wife and I heard him at OSU.

My godson converted from Episcopal to Judaism. Our love and respect for him never changed.