My whole life friends and colleagues have been trying to rescue me; to save me from myself — with limited success.

One colleague put me on a mailing list for a very conservative institution, I guess to purge my liberal soul. After a quick glance, I usually toss their mailings. But one caught my eye. It had to do with the Supreme Court vacancy and who would make the appointment after a new president is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017. The author began by saluting the late Justice Antonin Scalia for his support of original intent; that the words of the Constitution or any law must be read and implemented based on what they were understood to mean when written: the conservative insistence on textualism and originalism.

From its conservative perspective, the article presented a survey of issues that are expected to appear before the Supreme Court — an instructive analysis those of us who see things differently should note.

Under the institution’s concept of free speech, the death of Justice Scalia prevented the Supreme Court, in the Friedrichs Case, from ruling against public employee unions’ right to collect dues from their members even though the union members democratically voted that those dues be collected. Conservatives want a ninth justice appointed to re-hear this case and issue a ruling that has the potential to devastate the labor movement.

Their nightmare, our hope, is their fear that the appointment of a fifth liberal justice would lead to a 5 to 4 decision that would overturn the Citizens United Case that gave corporations what they call free speech protections to use unlimited corporate funds in political advocacy. And we’ve seen what that obscene flood of corporate money has done to the American political scene.

Conservatives are also looking for the appointment of a fifth right-leaning justice to overturn another First Amendment case. The so-called Blaine Amendments in state constitutions forbid the use of government monies for vouchers to pay for church- or religious-affiliated private schools. The Blaine prohibition is the bulwark that protects America’s public schools, the very institutions that guarantee free public education and social mobility to all our citizens.

They also hope to have the court rule their way on a host of cases that would allow a religious conscience argument for individuals and groups to deny services to the general public regarding a woman’s right to choose and same sex marriages.

On the second amendment, conservatives want another justice who will protect and promote their interpretation of the “right to bear arms,” which includes owning assault weapons and carrying concealed fire arms even in public institutions such as colleges.

On environmental matters, a Supreme Court tipped to the right would probably limit or eviscerate the Clean Water Act and global warming policies that progressives see as vital for the good health and safety of American society and the world.

The use of executive authority by both Republican and Democratic presidents has always been a point of contention in each generation. Conservatives would, of course, wish for a favorable court to uphold their views on such issues as the right of executive or federal authorities to give legal status to some groups of immigrants and/or refuse to enforce laws prohibiting such things as marijuana sales.

The Supreme Court, whether it has a conservative or liberal majority, decides which cases it adjudicates each year. A lower court, prior to the Friedrichs Case, limited the ability of unions to collect dues among nontraditional workers such as home health care providers. The way that case was decided encouraged disgruntled teachers to bring a similar case that the court agreed to hear and that almost succeeded in severely crippling unions like ours. The conservatives hope that a court leaning their way would encourage our enemies to bring more such issues to the court and discourage the allies of progressive labor from doing the same.

What kind of Supreme Court appointments are likely to be made by Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? The presidential election presents opportunities and dangers for both sides.

The conservatives are pushing for a Trump election to see their right-leaning, anti-labor agenda carried out.

The AFT and AFL-CIO have endorsed and recommend the election of Hillary Clinton for a labor-friendly Supreme Court. So this election is very important.