March 4 - Nationwide Conference Call on Justice Scalia's Legacy with Ed Whelan

On March 4, RNLA is hosting a nationwide conference call on Justice Scalia's legacy with Ed Whelan, President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former law clerk to Justice Scalia.  Ed will discuss the importance of Justice Scalia's jurisprudence and the importance of waiting for the next President to appoint his successor.  He will also take questions.

Shortly after Justice Scalia's sudden passing, Ed wrote:

It’s been more than 80 years since a Supreme Court justice was confirmed in an election year to a vacancy that arose that year, and there has never been an election-year confirmation that would so dramatically alter the ideological composition of the Court. 

. . . Senate Republicans would be grossly irresponsible to allow President Obama, in the last months of his presidency, to cement a liberal majority that will wreak havoc on the Constitution. Let the people decide in November who will select the next justice.

Through a series of tweets, Ed has reiterated the importance of Senate Republicans holding firm on not holding a hearing for any person President Obama nominates to fill Justice Scalia's seat on the Court.

Ed is also an expert on the judicial confirmation process and the Senate's role in that process:

The only real question is over how the Senate can and should exercise its advice-and-consent role. And the clear answer to that twofold question is that the Senate has the plenary power to exercise its advice-and-consent role however it wishes (as Democrats have long recognized . . . ) and that the only constraints are political, not constitutional, in nature.

The RNLA invites all current members to join us on Friday, March 4, at 12:30 PM EST to hear Ed Whelan's thoughts on Justice Scalia's legacy and the importance of the current vacancy on the Supreme Court.