Liberal groups rev up nominee effort

With Justice David Souter set to step down from the Supreme Court, lobbying groups are revving up their research and advocacy efforts in a battle that could cost a million dollars or more before a justice is confirmed.

The White House said this week that the nomination process is on a “tight timeline,” and that President Obama would like to see a new justice installed on the court by October.

{mosads}Much like the actual headline-grabbing confirmation hearings, most of the lobbying on the issue is dominated by hot-button social issues, not more staid business concerns. In recent years, the battles have meant big money.

Groups across the ideological spectrum combined to spend $2.4 million on television advertising alone during Justice Samuel Alito’s confirmation, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. Even during the less contentious hearings for Chief Justice John Roberts, groups spent more than $1 million.

Court watchers don’t necessarily expect groups to match or top those sums this year, with the president riding high public approval ratings and Democrats firmly in control of the Senate.

“I’m guessing that this time, because Democrats control both the White House and the Senate, that the amount of activity is going to be very muted as compared to Alito and Roberts,” said Gregory Caldeira, professor at Ohio State University.

Still, lobbying groups were quick to the draw last week. And Obama could choose to name a particularly contentious choice, setting up a lobbying and advertising free-for-all.

“I think that the progressive community is going to want to see Obama appoint people who are going to be real counter-forces to the people who were appointed by Bush,” said David Vladeck, Georgetown University law professor and former lawyer at Public Citizen.

A day after news broke that Souter would step down, conservative groups hashed out plans on a conference call with 50 organizations. Liberal groups, by contrast, haven’t broadcast their advocacy efforts quite as widely.

The New Agenda, a women’s rights group formed by women who had met during Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, came out with a list of 10 women they support. The Hispanic National Bar Association urged Obama to pick a “talented, experienced and well-prepared Hispanic lawyer.” And some gay-rights advocates have focused attention on Kathleen Sullivan, an openly lesbian professor at Stanford Law School.

Even without their own lists, many of the largest groups have been working closely in a coalition, waiting for the day when there is a vacancy.

{mospagebreak}Alliance for Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, People for the American Way, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and others associated with labor and environmental concerns form the core of a liberal progressive coalition.

“We work closely in a coalition together because we all have experience together when you have a nominee who doesn’t share your values,” said Nancy Keenen, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Marge Baker, executive vice president for policy and program planning at People for the American Way, said the vacancy is “an enormous opportunity for a teachable moment to explain to the American people why the Supreme Court makes a difference in their lives.” Several recent court decisions have reinforced their positions, said Baker, who mentioned the Lilly Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Co. case as evidence of the importance of a Supreme Court ruling. In a 5-4 decision, the court found employers could not be sued for racial or gender pay discrimination if the claims are based on a decision made more than 180 days prior.

“That was a real touchstone for people,” Baker said. “There is a homogeneity of experience on the court.”

{mosads}Some groups are pitching names, but most are digging through the backgrounds of potential nominees so they’re ready when Obama announces his choice. “The debate won’t crystallize until there is a nominee,” Keenen said.

“We take nothing for granted,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of gains since 2006. But again, you take nothing for granted in the case of a Supreme Court nominee.”

Vladeck said that interests that appear often before the Supreme Court “do a lot of work behind the scenes before the nominee has been selected.”

Repeat players, as political scientists call them, are not necessarily those most vocal about hot-button social issues and include more traditional business interests.

“We had a committee set up to take a look at the previous two nominees and came out in favor of them, obviously,” said Quentin Riegel, a lawyer at the National Association of Manufacturers. “We would like a justice who provides a receptivity to taking business cases and deciding them and that follows the statutes as they have been adopted by Congress and doesn’t make up remedies.”

Jim Snyder contributed to this
article.