Kimberly Atkins
The latest urgent issue on the 2016 campaign trail is whether a Democrat or a Republican president will get to make as many as four Supreme Court appointments.
With four justices over the age of 77, the next president could dramatically reshape the court — upending its delicate 5-4 balance, and transforming the nation’s legal landscape. Candidates are stumping on it now, and hot-button issue advocates are both hopeful and fearful of what it could mean…
“I think if a Democrat makes the appointments, Citizens United would go,” said Bradley A. Smith of the Center for Competitive Politics, which favors lifting campaign contribution limits and fears a chilling effect on political speech if the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling is reversed.
