New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush ‘except in extraordinary circumstances.’ ‘We should reverse the presumption of confirmation,’ Schumer told the American Constitution Society convention in Washington. ‘The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another Alito.’ Schumer’s assertion comes as Democrats and liberal advocacy groups are increasingly complaining that the Supreme Court with Bush’s nominees – Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito – has moved quicker than expected to overturn legal precedents. Senators were too quick to accept the nominees’ word that they would respect legal precedents, and ‘too easily impressed with the charm of Roberts and the erudition of Alito,’ Schumer said. ‘There is no doubt that we were hoodwinked,’ said Schumer, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee and heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said Schumer’s comments show ‘a tremendous disrespect for the Constitution’ by suggesting that the Senate not confirm nominees. ‘This is […]