With the recent election of president Donald Trump, the question that seems to be floating around is, “Who will be the next U.S. Supreme Court justice?”

The upcoming Supreme Court nomination is a political hotbed, and the nomination will have huge effects on the future of lives of Americans.

The next Supreme Court justice needs to be someone who will make decisions that will improve our country for the greater good of all people. In the past, Supreme Court justices have made critical court decisions that have been impactful on the lives of many, such as the legalization of same-sex marriage, the ability to be pro-abortion and have access to get an abortion when necessary, and even the right to have unsegregated facilities.

It is the responsibility of the next appointed justice to mediate decisions such as these.

The popular vote of the people in the 2016 was liberal. According to The Cook Political Report, an independent non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns, 48.1 percent of the popular votes were for the Democratic Party, compared to the 46.4 percent that were conservative votes.

The new Supreme Court justice should represent the people, and the majority has spoken.

Currently, there are eight Supreme Court justices in office, and of those justices, four of them are Democrats and four are Republican. The next justice will be a key factor in deciding if court case decisions should be more liberal or more conservative.

According to a press release issued by the Trump/Pence campaign, President-elect Donald Trump has a list of 11 conservative nominees for the position, and current president Barack Obama hopes to put Merrick Garland into the court by the end of this year, according to Reuters.

Garland is currently the chief judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court, in the District of Columbia.

According to Ballotpedia, the Encyclopedia of American Politics, if by the end of the year, Congress goes into a recess for ten or more days, then president Barack Obama can do what is called a recess appointment.

In other words, he will be able to directly put Garland in the Supreme Court.

If Congress does not have a recess for up to ten days, then it will be up to President-elect Donald Trump to nominate the next justice.
And, this is why: Merrick Garland holds views that the majority of our country holds as well and he will represent the people when it comes time to make decisions in the Supreme Court.

The current president, not the president-elect, should have the authority to fill empty seats when necessary, so Merrick Garland, president Obama’s nomination, should become the next justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Obama has the right to do this according to Article 2 Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, “The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.”

The next Supreme Court justice, whomever it may be, will also play a massive role in our country’s future.

Not only is the nomination for the empty seat an important issue, but the fact that many of the current justices are older and are likely to retire or die in years to come means that the incoming president will likely fill multiple Supreme Court seats while in office.

The U.S. Supreme Court hold a high level of importance in our society and the justices in this court hold an even higher level of importance, considering the choices that they make for the people.

By leaving this seat empty, split decisions on cases may occur more often, and this could cause for decisions to become biased and unfair.

For the U.S. Supreme Court to work most efficiently there must be nine justices in the court.

We should not wait to fill this seat.

If we wait until the end of President Obama’s term, who knows how long it will take for President-elect Donald Trump to nominate a new judge that Congress deems a good enough candidate to appoint as a justice.