The outcome of this American Presidential election awaits the decision of the voters but the composition of the highest court was decided when Amy Coney Barratt was confirmed as its newest justice by a 52-48 vote in the US Senate.
That was a " block " vote by the Republican party, who may not control the Senate when the election votes are counted, but Barratt is 48 years old and Justices serve a life term so she could hold her position for decades.
Donald Trump was certainly a controversial president, but he appointed more Supreme court justices in his single term than Barrack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton appointed together in their two term presidencies.
There is no doubt that Barratt meets all the technical criteria to sit on the Supreme court, but what interests most Americans is her attitude to two important issues - abortion and gun rights ! The three Justices appointed by Trump all have very conservative leanings and together carry the Supreme court in a 6-3 conservative balance.
Barratt is a dedicated Catholic and the Catholic church is implacably opposed to abortion in any circumstances. She has expressed criticism of " Roe v Wade ", the case that legalised abortion decades earlier and which is expected to front the court for review when it passes through the lower courts.
The other issue is gun control. The right to bear arms is guaranteed in the American Constitution and guns were single shot muskets when that document was framed. Today citizens have access to military grade machine guns and there have been constant massacres of innocent people. There will never be a law change to lower the number of guns on the streets while the conservatives hold a majority in the Supreme court.
Trump is a Republican party president and the Republicans have the numbers in the Senate at present. They voted as a " block " and refused to hold the confirmation of Barratt over until after the election and it is possible that if their opponents win this election they may add more justices to the Supreme court to rebalance a more liberal tilt.
What we are seeing here is a vast change in the political stance in the most heavily armed country on earth. Its Supreme court is the final arbiter of law and in the past the selection of new justices was achieved by nominees gaining a majority vote from the combined meeting of Senators from all political parties. That has now changed to whichever political party has the numbers in the Senate.
If nothing else, this Trump presidency has cemented party politics into the pivotal role of appointing the balance of the Supreme court and the wise decisions which guided that country in the past will be replaced with political diktat.
The Trump era will continue as an echo chamber for years to come !
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