It is believed that 2013 could bring major changes to our political makeup and much of that will have to do with possible replacements to the panel of Supreme Court Justices. Of the nine judges currently serving in the prestigious positions, four are in their seventies.
While appointment to the Supreme Court is a lifetime station, the justices always reserve the right to retire at any time they see fit. With such a large portion of the current panel reaching ages of probable retirement, many are looking to President Obama to determine what decisions he may make during his current term as president. Should he fill just two of the four seats, he will have appointed more justices than any other president in the history of this country.
What does this mean for personal injury attorneys working in St. Petersburg and state courts? The decisions of the Supreme Court impact the country as a whole and will also, frequently, dictate how judges in lower courts will rule in certain cases. With the two political parties at such odds in recent years, many wonder if the replacement judges will make more radical decisions and, as a result, many people in Saint Petersburg, including personal injury attorneys, are watching the situation very carefully.
If one is to guess as to who the President might be considering based on his previous nominations, then he must look closely at the beliefs, behaviors, and tendencies of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Nominated just a year apart from one another, these two women come from different backgrounds, but do share many political beliefs. They are both moderate democrats capable of working well with both similar and opposing views, which is something that the President obviously considers an important trait to have in this day and age.
A more liberal court could certainly result in changes to laws that would impact a large portion of the American public and many are interested to see just what those decisions may be.