Kerry Against Bush Majority on High Court

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is raising concerns that a second term for President Bush would lead to the appointment of conservative Supreme Court justices who would set back civil rights in America.

In a speech prepared for delivery Friday to the National Council of Negro Women, Kerry noted that six of the nine justices on the court will be over 70 by the end of the next term. He said it's likely some will retire, giving the president elected next year the power to appoint a new majority.

He said Bush has demonstrated "an unwavering commitment to refashioning the court in the ideological image of the far right."

I realize that Kerry is campaigning here, but I still think he's right. And I wish judicial appointments were politically blind, but the fact is, they're not and never have been. Believe me, I know: My great-great-grandfather was kept off the Court in 1870 for purely political reasons.

The story about Kerry's speech is here from the AP via findlaw.