A Supreme Court vacancy arises late in the second term of an idealistic and ideological president. He confronts a Senate controlled by his opponents and he hopes to win a third term by proxy. This describes the United States this week — and it also describes the U.S. 28 years ago, but with the Rs and Ds reversed.

Dean Vikram Amar and his brother, Yale Law Professor Akhil Amar, discuss the Supreme Court vacancy, the potential ramifications of a Republican filibuster, and the please for compromise in an op-ed, published in the LA Times. 

"Republicans who hated the thought of four more years of Obama in 2012 should ask themselves how they would feel about 40 more years of Justice Obama."

LA Times op-ed

Note: The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Illinois College of Law.