WASHINGTON — The two major presidential candidates are giving the voters a sharp, clear choice on the future of the Supreme Court.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush says he would choose new justices in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. The court's two most conservative justices, they want to repeal a woman's right to abortion.
For his part, Vice President Al Gore says he would impose a litmus test and choose only justices who support abortion rights. He says his model justices are the late liberals Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan.
The contrast goes far beyond abortion, however. On issues ranging from the environment and gun control to the death penalty, affirmative action, religion and gay rights, the Republicans and Democrats pledge to appoint judges who would push the law in quite different directions.
Today, the high court opens its new term on a quiet note. But legal activists on the right and the left are pointing to Nov. 7--election day--and saying the Supreme Court is a crucial issue in the race for the White House.
"The court is the most important division between the two candidates," says conservative activist Gary Bauer, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination. "When Gov. Bush mentioned Scalia and Thomas, it sent an unmistakable message to grass-roots conservatives he will do the right thing."
Bauer and his allies still are upset about President Bush's failure to do the "right thing" a decade ago. When Bush nominated David H. Souter to the high court, the New Hampshire judge was touted as a reliable conservative. Instead, he has proved to be surprisingly liberal.
"It was a terrible mistake," Bauer says.
Because of it, the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling on abortion still stands. In 1992, four conservative justices--including Scalia and Thomas--voted to repeal the abortion right, but Souter refused to join them in forming a five-member majority.
"All the culture war issues will be settled by the court," Bauer says, citing gay rights, school prayer and abortion as examples.
For much the same reason, Ralph G. Neas, president of the liberal group People for the American Way, is sounding the alarm about the prospect of another Bush presidency.
A Trio of Possibilities
If given a chance, Bush will do the bidding of the "religious right" when choosing new justices, Neas says. The next president might appoint two or three justices, he says, and "shape the court's direction for decades to come."
