Pick Your Poison: A Conservative Ranks SCOTUS Possibilities
Conservatives won’t be happy with President Obama’s pick to succeed Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court. But some nominees are more noxious than others. Of the names surfacing on SCOTUS short-lists, who can conservatives live with — and who would drive them up the wall?
We reached out to Curt Levey, Executive Director of the Committee for Justice, and solicited his thoughts on the Obama shortlisters. More specifically, we asked him to rank the possible nominees from most problematic to least.
Levey kindly obliged. Assuming the nominee will be a woman, an assumption that is almost universally shared, he grouped the most commonly mentioned names into three groups.
In the first tier — consisting of the most problematic nominees, with “judicial activism guaranteed” — Levey listed three: Judge Sonia Sotomayor, of the Second Circuit; Judge Diane Wood, of the Seventh Circuit; and Kathleen Sullivan, former dean of Stanford Law School (and one of the most famous failers of the California bar exam, along with this guy).
For the second tier — containing nominees who are still “very liberal,” but might have some respect for the rule of law, “if only because they haven’t proved otherwise yet” — Levey mentioned three: Solicitor General Elena Kagan; Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm; and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.
Finally, in the third tier, Levey mentioned two names: Justice Leah Ward Sears, of the Georgia Supreme Court, and Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, of the Ninth Circuit. He described Justice Sears and Judge Wardlaw as jurists who have at least “shown some respect for the rule of law.”
The bad news for conservatives: the nominee will probably come from Levey’s top two tiers.
Read more, after the jump.
From Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News, one of the most well-connected of Court watchers, writing over at her blog, Legalities:
[Judge Wood] is among the top three prospects Obama is considering, along with Judge Sonia Sotomayor and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, sources tell me. Like those two, she’s filled out the exhaustive questionnaire and undergone the intensive vetting and FBI background check. There’s one thing left: the crucial interview with the President.
Our sources are also focused on these three names. As we wrote last week, in our handicapping of the race to One First Street, “this strikes us as a three-person race: Elena Kagan vs. Diane Wood vs. Sonia Sotomayor.”
If the prospect of Justice Wood sends shivers up your spine — back in 2005, she was described on Underneath Their Robes as “a liberal version of Nino,” and therefore “so freakin’ scary” — then we have some disturbing news for you. Judge Wood is visiting Washington today, for what appears to be an unscheduled visit.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
P.S. Speaking of judges and courts, will economic tough times lead to a surge in clerkship applications? For those of you interested in clerking, check out the redesigned Law Clerk Addict site, for the 2010-11 judicial year.
Committee for Justice Blog
Judge Wood Goes to Washington [Legalities / ABC News]
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Comments
Conservative input with respect to the SCOTUS selection in the Obama administration is about as likely as the Bene Gesserit witches cooperating with the God Emperor and assisting the Ixians in their quest for a thinking machine.
Between the two, who is more liberal: Sotomayor or Wood?
2,
It depends on which one is a Face Dancer and which one is a Bene Gesserit witch.
There will be a filibuster from Davos.
Quien es mas macho, Sotomayer o Kagan?
Letterman had a racist skit about Sotomayor:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/05/is-letterman-mocking-sonia-sotomayor-or.html
Good thing he divided them into three tiers so the commenters at ATL know how to treat the members of each group.
There are significant amounts of stealth layoffs of first and second years at Ropes & Gray going on now. Please report on this. There's no basis for performance firings of junior associates. They need to grow a spine.
Why all the talk about who will respect "rule of law"? Doesn't he realize that the law is what those in power say it is?
This "Curt Levey" obviously knows nothing about running a country.
8 - Try emailing ATL. That works better for submitting tips. Stealth layoff stories have to be very well sourced because there is no official announcement.
As soon as I saw the advanced word "noxious" i knew that this wasn't from Mystal Lite.
Or can I coin the phrase "Mystal Heavy" ?
You are all pathetic.
LOUIS ZACCARELI
THANK YOU for the Letterman skit link. I've been looking for that. It's certainly not racist. It's certainly funny.
7 is right. Judge Wardlaw is TTT.
Lay is continuing his stupid fansite campaign for Kagan. How silly.
*groan*
Diane Wood is too old. The second Bush appointed justices in the ages of 50 and 56. The first Bush appointed Thomas at the age of 43. Clinton appointed justices in the ages of 60 and 56.
Obama must appoint a young justice like the Bushes did.
LIKELY, Obama will appoint himself.
17=racist.
Sucks that there will be more ivy-league or Standord elitist douches on Supreme Court.
So much for diversity
20 - The Illuminati know your name. The Illuminati are coming for you.
Clerking has not been a good idea for the past few classes. Many clerks have found their offers to return to law firms rescinded.
It seems that the candidates who use three names are listed in this guy's third tier, while if you use only two names you get into the first or second tiers. Serial killers also seem to go by three names.
17 - Alito was actually 55 when he joined the Court (January 2006 arrival, April 1950 birthday).
But let's say he was 56. Wood is only 58 (born July 4, 1950). And women have longer life expectancies.
Ginsburg was 60 when she joined the Court. So Wood would be younger than Ginsburg if confirmed.
24 here again. Breyer was also 55, but about to turn 56, when he joined the Court (born August 15, 1938; joined the Court on August 3, 1994).
A 56-year-old man seems comparable to a 58-year-old woman. Also, Wood has no health problems it seems (unlike Sotomayor, who is diabetic).
The Committee for Justice is a fourth tier conservative blog.
So Wood and Granholm have visited Washington, Kagan and Napolitano work there. Has anyone seen Sotomayor on the Acela?
24-25 - 17 here. Funny that you mention Ginsburg . She is a great example of a good justice that should not have been appointed due to her age at the time (60). As a rule, especially after Thomas, democrats should not appoint any justices older than 55, and preferably 50. It can't be that only republicans are allowed to appoint young justices that stay forever. By the time of her appointment Wood will be 59.
And - btw - I am not a Kagan fan. Not even close.
Wood would be a great pick because she appears to have the will required to battle Nino. Is Kagan considered to be strong-willed as well? I don't doubt either's progressive credentials. I just want someone vocal. A female Earl Warren if you will.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
No one cares what conservatives think. No one.
How's that taste, Lat?
I'm all for Sotomayor.
Who the hell is Nino?
Baaaaah. The court doesn't need someone to "battle with Nino," nimrods. It needs someone that can woo Tony Kennedy. Although if "the battle" with Scalia included the two of them dressing up in inflatable sumo suits and having at each other, it might be worthwhile.
Practically, Wood would be fine, ignoring age concerns. The main issue with her is that she's a jerk to parties she disagrees with. See here:
http://bench.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzNkZjhjNTQ2MGFhZTMyOTMyYTg0NjAyYWU4NTJkMjY=
(Ignore the commentary and look at the transcript.) This exchange is pretty typical for cases where she's already made up her mind going into the argument. But if you don't care about how a judge treats litigants, then she might very well be your lady.
32 -- I think it's one of tne of the ships that sailed with Columbus.