A (not so surprising) theme is developing in the coverage of who President Obama will pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter: There is pressure on Obama to select a woman and/or a Hispanic.
What is interesting, though, is watching whether that expectation grows to the point where Obama can’t nominate, say, a white male.
The White House appears to be very wary of that possibility, making sure recent stories include significant coverage of the argument that Obama will likely get to appoint another justice during his tenure in the White House.
It is worth noting up front that all of the articles are mostly anonymously sourced, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Obama picked someone under the radar.
We noted Monday that MSNBC’s “First Read” published a new shortlist naming Diane Wood, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Jennifer Granholm, Janet Napolitano and Merrick Garland. That list is mostly women (Garland is not) and including one Hispanic (Sotomayor). “First Read” focused on Napolitano.
The New York Times profiled Wood on Monday. Wood has impressive credentials (Yale Law, clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun) and University of Chicago Law School Prof, which is how she knows Obama. The NYT also provides this useful link to key cases that have defined Wood’s career.
The Washing Post, meanwhile, has been focused on Hispanics and, in particular, Sotomayor. The Post profiled Sotomayor last week, then wrote a front pager Tuesday about Hispanics and their desire for a justice on the court. It is in the Post story Tuesday that the idea that even if Obama doesn’t pick a Hispanic this time, he still could in his next appointment. In fact, that point is made in the third graf:
But the White House is constructing its appointment strategy on the belief that this will not be his only appointment to the court and that he need not reach his goal of changing the racial, ethnic and gender balance on the court with just one pick.
The BLT (“Blog of the Legal Times”) also picks up on Maria Cardona, a founding member of Hispanics for a Fair Judiciary, said on Monday: “It is high time for a Latino justice.”