In 1987, Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. Powell was considered to be a moderate swing vote in close decisions.

President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork who was serving in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Bork was considered eminently qualified.

He held to the judicial philosophy of originalism which is that the Constitution should be interpreted based on the text of the Constitution and what it meant to a reasonable person at the time it was adopted.

The Constitution itself provided an avenue for making changes through a legislative process. His view stood in stark contrast to a judicial activist philosophy that sees the Constitution as a living document whose meaning changes with time. Continue reading →