Souter To Retire
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| Thu, 04-30-2009 - 11:01pm |
I thought Supreme Court retirements were usually announced in June? Any way, this will allow Obama to start putting his stamp on the court.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103694193
Supreme Court Justice Souter To Retire
NPR has learned that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is planning to retire at the end of the current court term.
The vacancy will give President Obama his first chance to name a member of the high court and begin to shape its future direction.
At 69, Souter is nowhere near the oldest member of the court. In fact, he is in the younger half of the court's age range, with five justices older and just three younger. So far as anyone knows, he is in good health. But he has made clear to friends for some time that he wanted to leave Washington, a city he has never liked, and return to his native New Hampshire. Now, according to reliable sources, he has decided to take the plunge and has informed the White House of his decision.
Factors in his decision no doubt include the election of President Obama, who would be more likely to appoint a successor attuned to the principles Souter has followed as a moderate-to-liberal member of the court's more liberal bloc over the past two decades.
In addition, Souter was apparently satisfied that neither the court's oldest member, 89-year-old John Paul Stevens, nor its lone woman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had cancer surgery over the winter, wanted to retire at the end of this term. Not wanting to cause a second vacancy, Souter apparently had waited to learn his colleagues' plans before deciding his own.
Given his first appointment to the high court, most observers expect Obama will appoint a woman, since the court currently has only one female justice and Obama was elected with strong support from women. But an Obama pick would be unlikely to change the ideological makeup of the court.
Souter was a Republican appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, largely on the recommendation of New Hampshire's former Gov. John Sununu, who had become the first President Bush's chief of staff.
But Souter surprised Bush and other Republicans by joining the court's more liberal wing.
He generally votes with Stevens and the two justices who were appointed by President Bill Clinton — making up the bloc of four more liberal members of the court, a group that has usually been in the minority throughout Souter's tenure.
Possible nominees who have been mentioned as being on a theoretical short list include Elena Kagan, the current solicitor general who represents the government before the Supreme Court; Sonia Sotomayor, a Hispanic judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Diane Wood, a federal judge in Chicago who taught at the University of Chicago at the same time future President Barack Obama was teaching constitutional law there.
President Obama's choice has an excellent chance of being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, where Democrats now have an advantage of 59 seats to the Republicans' 40.
By the time a vote on a successor is taken, the Senate is anticipated to have a 60th Democrat, as the Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to approve the recount that elected Democrat Al Franken over incumbent Republican Norm Coleman in that state.

On this morning news shows they were speculating that he might choose a woman.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. A popular leader in her state, former state attorney general, and early supporter of Obama's presidency, she -- like Obama -- attended Harvard Law School. She is 50 years old.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Named a district court judge by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, she has been on the appeals bench since 1998. She'd likely have some bipartisan support. The 54-year-old is considered to have moderate-liberal views, and would be the first Hispanic justice on the high court.
Solicitor General Elena Kagan. She served in the Clinton White House in various legal and public policy positions. Kagan, 49, once clerked at the court, but has no judicial experience. When she served as dean of Harvard Law School, she was praised for naming several conservatives to the faculty.
Judge Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. On the bench sine 1995, the 58-year-old is considered a moderate liberal. A former clerk at the court, she served in both the Reagan and Clinton Justice departments.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/01/obama.souter/