Obama Likely To Pick a Woman For Supreme Court (sourced)

Three. That may be the number to pay close attention to as we await President Obama's choice to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court. And it may also be the best clue as to why President Obama will likely choose a woman to fill the vacancy. Two senior administration officials say the prospect of adding significant gender diversity to the high court has been a major consideration for Obama. Obama has privately told friends and aides, these sources say, that he would like nothing more than to be the first president to elevate three women to the bench.

The appeal of this approach is clear. Despite the political media's short-term view of SCOTUS nominations, these are the moments when all presidents think about their legacies and their ability to shape history. Because the justices who already retired or are likely to soon (David Souter, John Paul Stevens, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg) are also the most liberal, Obama probably won't be able to fundamentally alter the ideological mix of the court. So if he can't change the court's direction, he'll want to change the way it looks. If he leaves office with three, or maybe even four, women on the Supreme Court bench, Obama will cement his place in history as a powerful guardian of the interests of American women.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/237338?from=rss


:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Note the 3 bounces...

As someone observed upthread, there are plenty of qualified female judges/legal scholars to choose from.

Nader, the GOP, and the court itself has given us a conservative court for decades.

We need geographical diversity, too. And even tho I have several Ivy Leaguers in my family (not me), I think it is long overdue for some candidates outside of the Ivy establishment. Enough is enough...

need diversity.

gender or race come second to that.

Hillary Clinton's generation of female law students forged the pathway for hundreds of thousands of other women to enter law.

I used to hardly dare hope we'd get more women on the High Court, and now I can hardly wait. :woohoo: :toast:

Hekate

getting decided with all the women on one side of an issue.

I still like Sidney Thomas though--more and more as I read about him.

And I keep hoping that Scalia will quit, with Thomas quickly following him.

All of a sudden it would be a "women's" Court. Whereas it wasn't considered a "men's" Court when it was all male, just a Court.

Having three of the justices be women is the least Obama can do for gender equity. Four would be wonderful.