Patterico's Pontifications

4/12/2010

One Two More Supreme Court Finalists

Filed under: Judiciary,Obama — DRJ @ 1:05 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

ABC News reports there is one more name on President Obama’s list of Supreme Court candidates:

“Former Georgia Supreme Court chief justice Leah Ward Sears is also on the short list, a senior White House official tells ABC News.‬‪

Sears, who will turn 55 in June, was the first female African-American chief justice in US history, and when nominated for the state supreme court by then-Gov. Zell Miller in 1992, she became the first woman and the youngest person to ever sit on the court.‬‪

She stepped down from the court last year and currently practices law at Schiff Hardin.‬‪

A graduate of Emory University Law School, Sears was on President Obama’s short list last year. A member of the left-leaning American Constitution Society, she is also a friend of conservative Justice Clarence Thomas.‬”

And the AP adds one more:

“An administration official says President Barack Obama is considering federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana for the Supreme Court, one of about 10 people under serious review. The Associated Press has confirmed the names of seven of them.

Among the others under consideration are former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, federal appeals court judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.”

The process will reportedly continue for weeks. At this rate, there could be dozens of names on the list.

— DRJ

15 Responses to “One Two More Supreme Court Finalists”

  1. Bingo! Black female.

    Conditions satisfied!

    If she’s ever read a law book, so much the better.

    mojo (8096f2) — 4/12/2010 @ 1:42 pm

  2. seems to me that all of this is a bit of a game. the fact is that there is no way obama could appoint a more liberal justice. so all of this talk about going to war over this is really this.

    Republicans are hoping to convince obama to give his party a break and appoint a much less liberal justice.

    I’m not saying i don’t approve, but that is what this all really about.

    That being said, let me say something contrarian. i don’t think obama is going to appoint a woman or minority this time. i think it would look too much like a quota system and so this time he will appoint a standard white dude.

    but then again, i could be wrong.

    A.W. (e7d72e) — 4/12/2010 @ 2:14 pm

  3. I’m not sure Justice Sears will make the short list. The Justice Department very likely considers her too pro-defendant. I know I do.

    nk (db4a41) — 4/12/2010 @ 2:19 pm

  4. nk

    plus Sears always sides with Justice Roebuck. (sorry, couldn’t resist.)

    A.W. (e7d72e) — 4/12/2010 @ 2:21 pm

  5. Apr 12 03:08 PM US/Eastern
    By ras
    Associated Press Righter

    WASHINGTON (AP)An administration official says President Barack Obama is now considering himself for the Supreme Court, one of about one people under serious review. The Associated Press has confirmed the names of one of them.

    “In reviewing potential candidates, the president made sure to canvass the opinions of literally a dozen of more of the leading thinkers in the country, and they were unanimous in their opinion that he could appoint himself, should appoint himself, and would easily be able to handle the additional duties on top of his current ones,” said the White House in an official unsigned statement.

    Later, in response to unfounded criticism, a senior official added that, “well, yes, a handful of opinions initially dissented, but they’re not the leading thinkers in this country anymore, so we doubted anyone would still be interested in their opinions.”

    Obama is expected to finalize his nomination within a few weeks to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring this summer.

    ras (88eebb) — 4/12/2010 @ 3:04 pm

  6. Most of these names will be chaff, forcing conservative groups to waste resources on investigating them and (possibly) baiting the groups into making public comments about one or more of them which The One and his spokesminions will use to portray Republican opposition as being unreasonable.

    M. Scott Eiland (c552ec) — 4/12/2010 @ 3:31 pm

  7. Hopefully, they can find a “Souter.”

    Kevin Murphy (805c5b) — 4/12/2010 @ 5:40 pm

  8. Predicting SC nominees is akin to predicting Oakland’s 1st draft pick.

    PCD (e4c997) — 4/12/2010 @ 6:20 pm

  9. #8, How about that amazing guy B. Hussein Obama?

    highpockets (56cb6c) — 4/12/2010 @ 6:26 pm

  10. Not to be too cynical about this, but “liberal” or “conservative” you don’t get on the Supreme Court if you don’t like putting people in prison.

    nk (db4a41) — 4/12/2010 @ 6:35 pm

  11. hi DRJ did you see the LAT was bankrupt again?

    happyfeet (c8caab) — 4/12/2010 @ 6:42 pm

  12. Patterico had a post up not too long ago about judges using legislative intent.

    There is a bifurcation in American law (a triafurcation if you include death paenalty cases).

    If First Amendment rights are involved, the statute is construed strictly and the government must show some almost impossible proof. If First Amendment rights are not involved, you can go to prison for anything.

    Putin was more honest: “They can say what they want, and we (the government) will do what we want.”

    nk (db4a41) — 4/12/2010 @ 6:44 pm

  13. nk, if you oppose the 0th Amendment (abortion), the 1st won’t help you much.

    Kevin Murphy (5ae73e) — 4/12/2010 @ 6:53 pm

  14. […] post: One Two More Supreme Court Finalists […]

    One Two More Supreme Court Finalists | Liberal Whoppers (d16888) — 4/12/2010 @ 7:33 pm

  15. “If she’s ever read a law book, so much the better.”

    Former Georgia Supreme Court justice.

    BTW, y’all see the stats on how the tea party supporters view black folks? Very mainstream.

    imdw (f6a9f8) — 4/13/2010 @ 6:42 am


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