The brochure is hardly subtle. "Emergency instructions for a Supreme Court Retirement," it screams in bold red letters. Delivered by e-mail to tens of thousands of NARAL Pro-Choice America supporters, the missive directs them to "print, cut and fold this card and keep it in your wallet. When a Supreme Court justice retires, you'll be READY for action."
Cardholders are instructed to call their senators and declare that a new justice must support abortion rights. They are also told to log on to a Web site "for more action instructions," and to "TELL everyone you know!"
The abortion rights group is among about 185 self-styled "progressive" organizations sharing information, ideas and resources in anticipation of a Supreme Court vacancy. Conservative groups also are in full campaign mode -- raising money, conducting polls and planning advertising campaigns to stir grass-roots support in anticipation of the looming fight over the next nominee to the nation's high court.
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's thyroid cancer has kept him away from the Supreme Court's public deliberations since its current term began in October, leading activists on both sides to assume his retirement is imminent. That speculation was fueled by the 80-year-old jurist's frail appearance when he swore in President Bush for a second term on Inauguration Day. With eight of the nine justices 65 or older, it is possible that other court vacancies could soon occur, and activists are gearing up for the partisan wars sure to ensue.
Bush has promised to appoint a conservative to fill any Supreme Court vacancy. He has cited the work of current justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas -- both of whom favor a sharply limited federal government, oppose a national right to abortion and view affirmative action as unconstitutional -- as models of high court jurisprudence.
Inside the White House, lawyers in the counsel's office long ago began vetting potential high court candidates. They have combed through court opinions, speeches and other writings of potential candidates in preparation for a possible vacancy, according to former counsel employees.
When a new justice is appointed, "it will be a very big and very significant event," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative advocacy group founded by Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson. "Next to the election of the president himself, selection of a justice has a greater impact on the country than anything."
Sekulow said his group has been preparing for a court vacancy for the past several years by researching the records of potential candidates and sending e-mails and letters to its 730,000 members, "letting people know how the process works." That work has intensified in recent months as scores of conservative groups have joined forces to plan a campaign to support what they expect will be a conservative candidate for the high court.
The Judicial Confirmation Network, a new coalition headed by former Bush campaign official Gary Marx, has been raising millions of dollars that will be used for television ads to support conservative high court candidates. The group also has launched an online petition drive aimed at pressuring the Senate to change its rules allowing as few as 41 members to block confirmation of judicial nominees they find objectionable.
Meanwhile, the Federalist Society has assembled a list of right-leaning lawyers and law professors who can be summoned to offer reporters a conservative view on the direction of the Supreme Court and the qualifications of any potential nominee.
Skirmishes already are occurring over Bush's choices for seats on the nation's federal appeals courts. Last month, Bush renominated seven appeals court candidates whom Democrats had blocked with filibusters during the last Congress because they considered the nominees too conservative.
Angered by the Democratic tactics, conservative advocacy groups are pressuring Republican senators to alter the rules to disallow filibusters. "The tradition of the filibuster is being abused," said Wendy E. Long, a former law clerk for Justice Thomas who is counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network. "If it requires a rule change to end that, so be it."
If Republicans can break the filibuster power before a Supreme Court vacancy occurs, Bush's nominee would need only 51 Senate votes for confirmation, instead of 60.
"We have to give 41 senators the support they need to keep their backbone strong," NARAL's Nancy Keenan said. Her group is pressuring moderate Republicans to oppose the so-called "nuclear option" that would rule filibusters of judicial nominees invalid.
