Updated at 5:53 p.m. on May 11.
Rumors are swirling about possible replacements for Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. While National Journal briefly profiled some of the most prominent names already, here is a rundown of even more that are surfacing in coverage of the search. NationalJournal.com will update this list in alphabetical order as it grows.
Anita Alvarez, Cook County State's Attorney
• Age: 52
• Education: Loyola University in Chicago, 1982; Chicago-Kent College of Law, 1986.
• Ethnicity: Hispanic
• Her Cook County biography can be found here.
Ruben Castillo, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Age: 54
• Education: Loyola University, Chicago, Ill., 1976; Northwestern University School of Law, 1979.
• Ethnicity: Hispanic
• His court biography can be found here.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
• Age: 61
• Education: Wellesley College, 1969; Yale Law School, 1973.
• Ethnicity: white
• Her State Department biography can be found here and her National Journal profile here.
Merrick Garland, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• Age: 56
• Education: Harvard College, 1974; Harvard Law School, 1977.
• Ethnicity: white
• His court biography can be found here and his National Journal profile here.
Jennifer Granholm, Michigan governor
• Age: 50
• Education: University of California at Berkeley, 1984; Harvard Law School, 1987.
• Ethnicity: white
• Her official governor's biography can be found here and her Almanac of American Politics profile can be found here (subscription).
Complete list after the jump.
By AMY HARDER
A panel discussion hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center on Monday offered the Obama administration warnings and advice for navigating the forthcoming judicial nominations that Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is hoping the president will send to his committee before lawmakers' spring recess early next month.
James Flug, who worked for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., as counsel and later as chief counsel, has experienced the intricacies of judicial nominations from the staff level. Flug advises President Obama to "lay out what his principles of selection are in a way that's clear and simple and honest and that reflects these values and the values he wants to see an an appellate judge. There's a real opportunity for leadership," said Flug.
He cautioned, however, that Senate Republicans' recent threat to filibuster the president's choices before they've even been laid out suggests that the GOP is "not in good faith." Sarah Binder, George Washington professor and Brookings Institute senior fellow, reiterated that caution, saying the unified control Democrats enjoy in both houses of Congress is "not magic or a silver bullet" when it comes to confirming judicial nominees. She predicted that many judges appointed during Jimmy Carter's administration, who did not want to retire while a Republican was in office, could likely choose to now.
Obama should find a way to inform his millions of followers, mostly amassed during the campaign, about judicial nominations, Flug said. Emphasizing that people don't understand the process and issues as well as they should, Flug said that if Obama "can give a very clear and candid and understandable version of what he's looking for in a judge, the public will become a part of the process."
The panelists often referenced the divergent confirmation processes of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both nominated by George W. Bush in his second term. While the former was rather clean and simple, the panelists agreed, the latter created unwelcome controversy. A nomination of this level isn't as imminent as those at the lower-level federal courts, but it is expected that at least one -- possibly up to three -- Supreme Court justices will retire during Obama's term. Considering how technology has evolved, especially in terms of e-mail and electronic document retrieval, Flug said confirmation could become a much more time-consuming process that delves deeply into the nominee's past life. Sometimes too much so, he added.
New York Times Washington correspondent David Kirkpatrick, who has covered Supreme Court and executive branch nominations, said that the structure of a judicial confirmation by way of the Senate creates an "atmosphere of a treasure hunt," almost as if lawmakers are searching for a piece of information about nominees before the news media gets to it. "It is a bizarre experience to be a part of it," Kirkpatrick said.
By MARY GILBERT
Depending on who you talk to, President-elect Barack Obama could have the chance to replace one-third of the current Supreme Court, and liberals are eager to get justices in the mold of Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan. At a panel discussion sponsored by the progressive advocacy group People For the American Way on Tuesday, several legal experts discussed the characteristics they are looking for in an Obama nominee.
PFAW President Kathryn Kolbert opened by expressing her view that Obama's victory represents a Supreme Court "mandate" for the new president. She cited exit polls showing that voters who called future SCOTUS nominees the most important factor in their decision broke for Obama 57 percent to 41 percent, suggesting public sentiment against the judicial model of Samuel Alito and John Roberts, both appointed by President Bush.
John Payton, the director-counsel and president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, advocated for a candidate who has an "aspirational view" of the law and said the courts can and should be used to expand the concept of justice. LDF colleague and pioneering civil rights attorney Julius Chambers said he hopes to see Obama nominate someone with a deep commitment to the belief that every person deserves fair and equal representation. Maryland state senator and American University law professor Jamin Raskin also spoke of "a passion for justice" as a prerequisite for any nominee. And Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate and author of "Supreme Court Dispatches," said she would like to see a better salesman for the progressive view on the court.
Continue reading Progressives See New Chance For SCOTUS Diversity.
