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OBAMA'S SUPREMES.
One potential list here. I must admit that I have a strong sympathy for Sonia Sotomayor, given her role in stopping MLB's attempted bad faith union-busting in 1995, but she seems too moderate to be a good first choice on a Court with four doctrinaire reactionaries and no Brennan/Marshall/Douglas style liberal. Marshall's former clerk Elena Kagan -- who's only 48 -- seems a lot more promising.
Since many progressives are understandably less-than-enthused about the possibility of a Sunstein appointment, the best news I can give is that one logic of my critique of Sunstein's "minimalism" is that the effect it has on a justice's votes is very minimal. It's true that Sunstein has said some bad things about Roe; it's also true that he ends up in the same place (with, in this case, a rationale that's actually better and more expansive.) I suspect he'd cast the same kind of votes as most other potential Democratic nominees even if they would sometimes be justified with a little more hand-wringing.
--Scott Lemieux
COMMENTS (3)
Would a Sunstein appointment limit the role his wife Samantha Power could play in the Administration?
Posted by: Easy as ABC | November 20, 2008 2:35 PM
I *really* want to see Harold Koh on the court.
Chances are Obama will get to appoint three justices, replacing Stevens, Souter and Ginsberg.
I hope Koh is one. As for the other two, I like Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Jennifer Granholm. I would hope Sotomayor is one, just because I think we really ought to have at least one Hispanic-American on the court. But I also really like both Granholm -- who brings elective experience and practical politics, something the court has lacked for the past several decades -- and Kagan.
Posted by: Andrew | November 20, 2008 7:07 PM
Andrew: Granholm -- who brings elective experience and practical politics, something the court has lacked for the past several decades...
Not actually true. O'Connor had elective experience, though at a more local level, which she brought to bear on redistricting and other political issues.
That said, I agree political experience can add a good perspective on the SCOTUS bench, and there is currently a lack of it there.
.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 21, 2008 1:28 PM