Recent Supreme Court decisions that broke 5-4 underlined the impact the next president could have on top US judicial body, the Boston Globe notes. The liberal bloc—including John Paul Stevens (age 88) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (75)—is more likely to lose members during the next administration, so a President McCain could greatly change the Court's bent by replacing them with conservative Justices.
"I don't think we see any major change" under a President Obama, who would likely replace one liberal with another, one law professor said. "There will be a great deal of stability in the law," he adds, noting that most justices focus on upholding the law no matter their bent. "It's dangerous to overstate the potential for change." (More US Supreme Court stories.)