Another conservative jurist is unnecessary

Today, as I watched the 113th Supreme Court justice being sworn in, I reflected on the idea justifying the choice of such a conservative jurist. The primary justification was that he was chosen to fill the “Scalia” seat.

Really, the Scalia seat? Whose seat was it before Scalia? The seat that he filled opened up because of the retirement of Chief Justice Warren Burger in 1986 and the elevation of Associate Justice William Rehnquist to chief justice by President Reagan. Was that considered the Burger seat, the Rehnquist seat or just an empty seat the needed filling?

Aren’t the seats on the Supreme Court the people’s seats, yours and mine? Does anyone really believe that if Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat opens up while Trump is president that he will appoint a liberal judge to fill the “Ginsburg” seat?

BOB WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint