Mitch McConnell Says Americans Won’t Tolerate Democrats Blocking Supreme Court Nominations

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a warning to Democrats on Wednesday, one day after the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland expired without any Senate action: Don’t consider staging a similar blockade on any of President-elect Donald Trump’s high court nominees.

Questions linger about secret panel for Marc Nadon's appointment

It's been three weeks since the Supreme Court told the government its nominee, Justice Marc Nadon, is not eligible to sit as a member of the court.

Not only is little known about how he was chosen, there's also no new candidate in sight.

Nadon's name was on a list of three potential candidates. That list of three, which had been drawn up by a selection committee made up of MPs, was then sent to the government. That means two other candidates are presumably available to fill the empty Quebec seat on the top court. But it's not known who they are, or whether a new batch of candidates will be drawn up.

Quebec Bar Association asks feds to reconsider Supreme Court appointment

MONTREAL—The Quebec Bar Association is asking the Harper government to reconsider its appointment of a unilingual judge to the Supreme Court of Canada.

It decries the nomination of Justice Michael Moldaver, who does not speak French.

The bar association says Canadian citizens have the right to expect that, when they appear in court, they will be understood regardless of what official language they speak.

It says it would still oppose the nomination if Moldaver only spoke French — not English. The association says the issue here is that a nominee to the high court should be able to understand arguments in both official languages.

Yesterday’s nomination has intensified a debate over bilingualism in the justice system.

Opponents of mandatory bilingualism say what matters most is that a judge can understand the law — and, if there’s a problem with language, the court has translation services.

But the bar association says that’s not fair; it says an earpiece and interpreter are no substitute for understanding someone directly when they’re arguing in court.

The association says this appointment means two of the Supreme Court’s nine judges are now unilingual.

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Source: Toronto Star