Experts predict that the Supreme Court's conservative majority will remain unchanged regardless of the election outcome.

Regardless of the Nov. 5 election results, constitutional law experts predict that the Supreme Court's conservative majority will remain unchanged.

The future of the country's high court is a topic of debate, with no formal discussion from either candidate during the past election cycle regarding a potential presidency of either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.

Despite calls for the resignation of Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan due to age and ethical concerns, experts predict that the power balance on the Supreme Court will remain unchanged regardless of who wins the presidency in November.

If Harris were to win, Justice Sotomayor might retire. Or if a Republican were to win, then you could imagine Justice Alito retiring, perhaps, according to John Yoo, the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, who shared this with Planet Chronicle Digital.

"The composition of the Court may shift, but the ideological equilibrium will remain unchanged."

During his presidency, Trump appointed three justices to the Court, maintaining a conservative majority, while Biden recently named Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Court, replacing liberal Justice Breyer who retired.

"Erwin Chemerinsky, dean at UC Berkeley Law, stated to Planet Chronicle Digital that while there may be unforeseen vacancies on the Court, he anticipates that if Trump wins and there is a Republican Senate, Thomas and Alito will retire to make way for younger conservatives. Similarly, if Harris wins and there is a Democratic Senate, Sotomayor will retire to allow a younger Democrat to take her seat."

Richard Epstein, a professor of law at NYU School of Law, predicts that several justices, including Thomas and Sotomayor, may retire based on Chemerinsky's predictions. Thomas may announce his retirement if Trump wins, while Sotomayor may continue to serve as long as she is able.

"An appointment is coming, and I believe Trump will examine the judicial paths and attempt to select someone more trustworthy for his goals. However, the issue is that we are unaware of what Trump's goals are. On the other hand, Kamala Harris couldn't identify any actions taken by Biden that she disagrees with."

Nevertheless, Yoo stated that he does not think the push for retirements will have a significant impact on the outcome after November 5.

"If Trump were to win, conservative activists hope that older justices might retire, to be replaced by a much younger justice, as Yoo said. Additionally, some people are hoping Justice Sotomayor would retire under President Biden so that she could be replaced by someone who's 20 years younger, as a way of trying to cement control of those seats in a conservative or liberal direction."

"Yoo stated that pressure like that has little effect on the justices because they are insulated from politics and do not have to listen to anyone when it comes to their retirement decisions."

Yoo highlighted the significance of prospective appointments to the Circuit Courts of Appeals, as there is currently one vacancy in the federal appellate courts, with one nominee already confirmed and four others still pending, according to judiciary statistics.

"According to Yoo, the appellate courts are crucial in advancing a direction in the law. They decide 99% of the cases in the federal system, with only 1% or less making it to the Supreme Court. Therefore, circuit courts are the ones that are truly important."

According to Yoo, both Biden and Trump were successful in filling appellate court vacancies during their presidencies, but the biggest impact of a new president will be felt on those courts.

"According to Epstein, the best judges for the Supreme Court will be selected from the appointees of either Biden or Obama, and the Democrats are more likely to choose a woman or a minority."