Despite some controversy, Samuel Alito has been sworn in as the newest Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Conservatives hail the confirmation as a victory; liberals fear it will sway the Supreme Court to the political right. Saint Louis University Law Professor Eric Claeys, who clerked for the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, believes we could see another vacancy before the end of the Bush Presidency. And, he believes the next vacancy could be the most important in years because it could see a conservative replacing a liberal. That, he says, would firmly establish the High Court as one with a conservative tilt. Claeys says the 58-42 vote for Alito is a signal that Democrats have the 41 votes needed to sustain a filibuster in the future.
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