White House Said to Have Short List Ready for Justice Stevens' Slot

[usregimechange]

The White House appears ready to move quickly on a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court should Justice John Paul Stevens decide to retire before the end of the term.

The vetting of the short list of candidates was already largely done last year when President Barack Obama picked Sonia Sotomayor to replace David Souter, and knowledgeable sources say the president is likely to work off the same dossiers, now being updated. The list includes Solicitor General Elena Kagan, appeals court Judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano...

Though the short list is said to feature Kagan, Wood, Garland and possibly Napolitano, other names still pop up in discussion, especially when it is noted that Stevens' departure will deprive the Court of some feature it has now.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202446568098

[L. Coyote]

1. Any retiring Dem Senators interested?

[usregimechange]

2. Likely but not sure if I would want them in play

[Hekate]

3. Good women on that list -- I hope we can get some more in.

"Retiring Senators" may be too old for the way the Repubs stacked the court -- meaning the activist conservatives on the Court (who were appointed very young) could outlive everyone else and continue influencing law for another 25 years. I mean for gods' sake, look at Clarence Thomas. Fat Tony is getting on in years, but apparently is hale and hearty, the miserable SOB.

This is one reason Sonia Sotomayor's appointment was so important -- she's really good, but she's also under 50.

We do need more women, not just a single token at a time.

Hekate

[canetoad]

9. Sonia Sotomayor born 1954

Same year as me.

[Hekate]

10. Ooops. I guess the older I get, the younger the 50s look!

:blush:

[TransitJohn]

4. Put the Big Dog on the SCOTUS!!

Lousy partisan witch hunt impeachment anyway.

[Hekate]

12. His health is too poor -- I love the guy, but no. Plus, he is incredibly "social" and needs to be...

... out and about. Plus -- well, you know, does the SCOTUS really need a sex scandal?

Hekate

[depakid]

5. Hopefully Elena Kagan gets the nod this time

[CTyankee]

8. I always liked Elena...she would be great! nt

[Retrograde]

14. Looks good, but how about someone from west of the Mississippi for a change

Not to say she wouldn't make a good judge if nominated, but the Supreme Court's always been rather heavy with people from the Harvard-Yale-Princeton circuit. Surely Stanford, Boalt, U of W, USC and other schools have produced good judges.

[morningglory]

6. I am looking for a 14-yr-old progressive liberal Dem. nt

[Arkana]

7. That list looks more or less the same as it did when Souter left

and Sotomayor was chosen to replace him.

[SoCalDem]

11. We need a constitutional scholar more than some obscure judge

and a LIBERAL one... screw the goofball republicans..

[usregimechange]

15. Liu

[RedCloud]

13. Why not just get Congress to ask for more SC justices?

Two more and we can overturn the corporations as people nonsense.