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Latest Fact-Checks In Supreme Court

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Mark Herring
stated on March 29, 2016 a letter

"Since 1900, six (U.S. Supreme Court) justices have been confirmed during election years, including Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was confirmed in the final year of the Reagan Administration."

True

By Sean Gorman • March 29, 2016

Mitch McConnell
stated on March 20, 2016 "Fox News Sunday"

Says Senate Republicans are "following a longstanding tradition of not filling vacancies on the Supreme Court in the middle of a presidential election year."

False

By Lauren Carroll • March 22, 2016

Mark Herring
stated on March 10, 2016 a letter

"Every (U.S. Supreme Court) nominee since 1875 has received a nomination hearing."

Mostly False

By Sean Gorman, Warren Fiske • March 20, 2016

Jennifer Horn
stated on March 16, 2016 a press release

"For more than 80 years, there has not been a nomination and confirmation of a Supreme Court Justice in a presidential election year. This is simply not the time to break with decades of bipartisan practice."

Half-True

By Clay Wirestone • March 18, 2016

Bill O'Reilly
stated on March 16, 2016 an episode of "The O'Reilly Factor"

Says Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland "voted, so the folks know, in Washington, D.C., to keep guns away from private citizens."

False

By Lauren Carroll • March 18, 2016

Mike Honda
stated on March 16, 2016 a column posted on Medium

"Six justices" on the U.S. Supreme Court have been "confirmed in presidential election years since 1912."

True

By Louis Jacobson • March 17, 2016

Roy Zimmerman
stated on March 13, 2016 a YouTube video

"Republicans control the U.S. Senate with 54 seats, but those 54 senators were elected by only two-thirds the number of voters who elected the Democrats. In the Senate, the majority party represents a minority of the people."

Half-True

By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • March 17, 2016

Gwen Moore
stated on March 16, 2016 a tweet

"Six justices" on the U.S. Supreme Court have been "confirmed in presidential election years since 1912."

True

March 17, 2016

Jeff Flake
stated on February 22, 2016 a statement

"One would have to go back more than a century to find a scenario where a president’s nominee for the Supreme Court was confirmed by the opposition party in the Senate when the vacancy occurred during an election year."

True

By Anthony Cave • March 14, 2016

Paul Ryan
stated on February 23, 2016 an interview

"There is a precedent" for not nominating someone to the U.S. Supreme Court "in the middle of a presidential election."

False

March 4, 2016

Nevada State Democratic Party
stated on February 23, 2016 a press release

"Every Republican Senate candidate has now announced whether or not they support the Senate taking up the Supreme Court vacancy…except for Congressman Heck."

False

By Riley Snyder • March 3, 2016

Cory Gardner
stated on February 24, 2016 a talk show

"It's been since 1888 that a Senate of a different party than the president in the White House confirmed a Supreme Court nominee."

False

By Alan Gathright • February 26, 2016

Bob Goodlatte
stated on February 15, 2016 a TV interview.

"It’s highly unusual to have a Supreme Court confirmation in a presidential election year. The last one was 1940."

Half-True

By Sean Gorman • February 22, 2016

New Hampshire Democratic Party
stated on February 16, 2016 a press release

Blocking a U.S. Supreme Court nomination during the remaining months of President Obama’s term "would leave the nation’s highest court with an unprecedented year-long vacancy."

Mostly False

By Clay Wirestone • February 19, 2016

Richard Blumenthal
stated on February 15, 2016 an appearance on MSNBC's Hardball

"There's never been a (U.S. Supreme Court) vacancy in the last, I think, 30 years, lasting longer than 237 days."

True

By C. Eugene Emery Jr. • February 18, 2016

Stephen Colbert
stated on February 15, 2016 comments on the "Late Show"

"People have actually broken down the transcripts for oral arguments and (Antonin Scalia) told more jokes and got more laughs than any of the other justices."

True

By Linda Qiu • February 17, 2016

Ted Cruz
stated on February 14, 2016 on ABC's "This Week"

Says "the one person (Donald Trump) has suggested that would make a good justice is his sister, who is a court of appeals judge appointed by Bill Clinton. She is a hardcore pro-abortion liberal judge."

Mostly False

By Lauren Carroll • February 16, 2016

Ted Cruz
stated on February 14, 2016 comments on "Meet the Press"

"It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. There is a long tradition that you don't do this in an election year."

Half-True

By Jon Greenberg • February 14, 2016

Marco Rubio
stated on February 14, 2016 comments on "Meet the Press"

"There comes a point in the last year of the president, especially in their second term, where you stop nominating" both Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges.

False

By Linda Qiu • February 14, 2016

Marco Rubio
stated on February 13, 2016 a debate in Greenville, S.C.

"It has been over 80 years since a lame-duck president appointed a Supreme Court justice."

Mostly False

By Amy Sherman • February 14, 2016

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