BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 32|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 32
Author: Alejo (D), et al.
Amended: 5/5/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 4-2, 6/14/16
AYES: Jackson, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NOES: Moorlach, Anderson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hertzberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-22, 4/21/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: United States Supreme Court: nominations
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution makes various declarations relating to
the importance of the United States Supreme Court, and the
respective constitutional duties of the President and the Senate
in the process of nominating and confirming justices to the
Supreme Court. This resolution urges the U.S. Senate to give
President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court fair and honest
consideration through an up or down vote, both on the Senate
Judiciary Committee and on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
ANALYSIS: Existing federal law, the U.S. Constitution, provides
in relevant part that the President shall nominate, and by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint judges
of the Supreme Court. (U.S. Const., Art. II, Sec. 2.)
AJR 32
Page 2
This resolution:
1) Declares, among other things, that:
The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest Court in the
Nation and considers important national questions whose
determination is necessary for the orderly operation of the
federal government and the government of the several
states;
Having an even number of justices on the U.S. Supreme
Court makes it possible to have numerical ties in
controversial decisions before the Court, which could leave
unresolved conflicts of law between the several Circuit
Courts of Appeal across the Nation;
A failure to ensure conformity of federal and state law
across the several states would severely compromise the
fundamental constitutional principles of due process and
equal protection under the law;
Section 2 of Article II of the U.S. Constitution
provides the President with the power to nominate justices
to the U.S. Supreme Court with the advice and consent of
the U.S. Senate;
By reelecting Barack Obama as President, the American
people have already voiced their affirmation that he is
their choice to exercise the powers of the Presidency,
including filling vacancies on the Supreme Court that arise
during his term in office;
There is historical precedence for confirming nominees
for Justice of the Supreme Court during the final year of a
president's term, including Justice Anthony Kennedy by
President Ronald Reagan in 1988; Justice Frank Murphy by
AJR 32
Page 3
President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940; Justice Louis
Brandeis by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916; Justice
George Shiras, Jr. by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892;
Justice Melville Fuller by President Grover Cleveland in
1888; Justice William Johnson by President Thomas Jefferson
in 1804; and Chief Justice John Marshall by President John
Adams in 1801; and
The U.S. Senate has a duty afforded by Section 2 of
Article II of the U.S. Constitution to provide the
President of the United States with their advice and
consent to nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court made by
the President, and refusing to even give due consideration
to a presidential nomination would be a dereliction of the
Senate's constitutional duties.
1) Urges the U.S. Senate to give President Obama's nominee to
the Supreme Court fair and honest consideration through an up
or down vote, both on the Senate Judiciary Committee and on
the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Background
On February 13, 2016, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia,
who had served over three decades on the high court, was found
dead at a West Texas resort. (Liptak, New York Times, Antonin
Scalia, Justice on the Supreme Court, Dies at 79 (Feb. 13, 2016)
Page 4
Nonetheless, on March 16, President Obama nominated the Chief
Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Judge
Merrick Garland, to fill the seat left vacant by the late
Justice Scalia. (Chappell and Johnson, National Public Radio,
Merrick Garland is Named as President Obama's Supreme Court
Nominee (Mar. 16, 2016)
Page 5
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Dahle, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Maienschein,
Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson,
Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Chang, Hadley, Linder
Prepared by:Ronak Daylami / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
6/15/16 17:24:54
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