To the Editor:

The associate editor of the Catasauqua Press criticizes the Senate leadership as obstructionists who are subverting the Constitution. I am no constitutional scholar, but I do have a pocket copy of the Constitution, which states in regard to the selection of Supreme Court justices (Article II, section 2), “he (the president) shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States.”

It provides no time lines and no details about the process. I don’t think you can characterize the Senate leader’s intentions as subversive or even contrary to this text.

On the other hand, the president has never sought or respected the “advice and consent” of the Senate or the House during the last seven years. He has chosen to go around them by executive orders and regulations. This is a better example of subversion of the Constitution, specifically of Article I, Section 1, which states: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.”

Is it any wonder that Senator McConnell has no expectation that a good faith nominee will emerge from this president?

The real issue with the replacement of Justice Scalia is that the Supreme Court justices are supposed to be impartial and should not legislate from the bench. While Scalia was an originalist, one who believed in interpreting the Constitution as the authors intended, other judges can be counted on to rule based on political ideology. I feel certain that if a nonpolitical nominee were advanced by the president, the Senate would give that person a fair hearing.

Does the editor really think that the motions of the replacement process are more important than the spirit of the process?

And no, Ms. Wojciechowski, Justice Scalia would not agree with you. In a 2012 interview with Chris Wallace, he stated that he would not wish to be replaced by someone who would set about to undo all his work.

Pat Kottke

Upper Macungie Township