Until President Obama chooses a successor to Justice John Paul Stevens, I'm going to try to write a diary per day on the possible successors to Justice Stevens.
Today, I'm starting with the "long list" that is being worked through while the President comes to a decision. I may flesh this out later but I'm going to give a brief synopsis on those on the so-called, "long list" and explain the pros and the cons for each.
Per Time Magazine here's who's currently on it: President Obama's Long List
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Cass Sunstein; Ninth Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas; Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow; Stanford Law School Professor Pamela Karlan; Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick; State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh; TARP Overseer Elizabeth Warren; Stanford Law School Professor Kathleen Sullivan; Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar; Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse; Attorney Gen. Eric Holder; and Former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears.
From the list, I'm removing Eric Holder and Leah Ward Sears as possibilities, simply because of the fact that Holder would have an EXTREMELY contentious hearing and Leah Ward Sears has opposed gay rights on several occasions. Leah Ward Sears would end up splitting the base were she the pick.
Also Kathleen Sullivan would be removed on the basis of her view of the case of Citizens United. She is very much supportive of free speech rights to corporations. Obama would get HAMMERED if he picked her.
The First on the list is current Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm.
Jennifer Granholm, Wikipedia Bio:
Granholm's grandmother was an immigrant from Norway. Granholm's family immigrated to California when she was four.[6] She grew up in Anaheim, San Jose and San Carlos.[7] Granholm graduated from San Carlos High School, located in San Carlos, California, in 1977.[6] She won the Miss San Carlos beauty pageant.[7] As a young adult she attempted to launch a Hollywood acting career but was unsuccessful and she abandoned her efforts at the age of 21.[6] She held jobs as a tour guide at Universal Studios, within customer service for the Los Angeles Times and was the first female tour guide at Marine World Africa USA in Redwood City, piloting boats with 25 tourists aboard.[7] In 1980, she became a United States citizen and worked for John Anderson's independent run for President of the United States, and enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated from UC-Berkeley in 1984 Phi Beta Kappa with two BA degrees, one in political science, the other in French. Granholm then earned a Juris Doctor degree at Harvard Law School, also with honors. She clerked for U.S. Judge Damon Keith on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. In 1986 she married Daniel Mulhern, a Michigan native, and took his surname as her middle name. They have three children: Kathryn, Cecelia, and Jack. In 1990 she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. In 1994, she was appointed Wayne County Corporation Counsel.
She was also the Attorney General of the State of Michigan. Her hearings would focus on her tenure as governor and any positions that she has taken on abortion. The bigger issue will be healthcare and whether republicans will try to get her to comment on that, though that issue could turn out to be a plus for dems, if they show that republicans are searching for an activist supreme court justice.
Next is current WH office of Regulatory Affairs head, Cass Sunstein, wikipedia bio:
Sunstein worked in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department as an attorney-advisor (1980–1981) and then took a job as an assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School (1981–1983), where he also became an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science (1983–1985). In 1985, Sunstein was made a full professor of both political science and law; in 1988, he was named the Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence in the Law School and Department of Political Science. The university honored him in 1993 with its "distinguished service" accolade, permanently changing his title to Karl N. Llewellyn Distinguished Service Professor of Jurisprudence in the Law School and Department of Political Science.
Sunstein was the Samuel Rubin Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia Law School in the fall of 1986 and a visiting professor at Harvard Law School in the spring 1987, winter 2005, and spring 2007 terms. He teaches courses in constitutional law, administrative law, and environmental law, as well as the required first-year course "Elements of the Law", which is an introduction to legal reasoning, legal theory, and the interdisciplinary study of law, including law and economics. In the fall of 2008 he joined the faculty of Harvard Law School and began serving as the director of its Program on Risk Regulation:[2]
The Program on Risk Regulation will focus on how law and policy deal with the central hazards of the 21st century. Anticipated areas of study include terrorism, climate change, occupational safety, infectious diseases, natural disasters, and other low-probability, high-consequence events. Sunstein plans to rely on significant student involvement in the work of this new program.[2]
On January 7, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that Professor Sunstein will be named to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).[3] That news generated controversy among progressive legal scholars[4] and environmentalists.[5]
Despite being a friend to the President and he, himself may want reasons for being on the court, his appointment is unlikely. He's not likely to please ANYONE. Most of his hearings would focus on his controversial writings.
Next is Judge Sidney Thomas, current 9th Circuit Justice:
On July 19, 1995, President Bill Clinton nominated Thomas to his current seat on the Ninth Circuit. The United States Senate confirmed Thomas in a voice vote on January 2, 1996. Thomas' nomination had been briefly held up by U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana, who had wanted the nominations of Thomas and judicial nominee A. Wallace Tashima delayed until the passage of a bill to split the Ninth Circuit.[5]
Judge Thomas authored the opinion in Nadarajah v. Gonzalez (2006), a recent civil rights opinion.
Not much is too known about him except that when the government attempted to illegally detain an individual in a immigration case, Nadarajah v. Gonzalez, Judge Thomas stated that the government does not have the power to detain indefinitely. Most of the hearings would focus on terrorism.
Another is current Dean of Harvard and former mentor of Barack Obama's, Dean Martha Minow, wikipedia bio
Martha is the daughter of former Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton Minow and his wife Josephine Baskin Minow. After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan (1975), Minow received a master’s degree in education from Harvard (1976) and her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Yale Law School (1979), where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. After graduating law school, Minow clerked for Judge David Bazelon of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court of the United States. She joined the Harvard Law faculty as an assistant professor in 1981, was promoted to professor in 1986, was named the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of Law in 2003, and became the Jeremiah Smith Jr., Professor of Law in 2005. She is also a lecturer in the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
I've written about her in the past, and I think she would be an OUTSTANDING pick. But being from academia, means that she has written a lot and unfortunately in this hyper political age, that means that one sentence will be found and deliberately misconstrued. Hearings would focus on Iran and perhaps the administration's approach to it.
Another is current Stanford Law Professor, Pamela Karlan, wikipedia bio
After a near-perfect score on the SAT in 11th grade, Karlan skipped 12th grade and enrolled at Yale University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1980 and a law degree and master of arts in 1984.[2] At Yale Law School, she served as an Article & Book Reviews editor of the Yale Law Journal.[3]
In 1984-5, Karlan worked as a law clerk for former U.S. District Judge Abraham David Sofaer. In 1985-6, she clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
Blackmun revealed in a 1995 oral history with Harold Koh that his dissent in Bowers v. Hardwick was written primarily by Pam Karlan. Blackmun said of the dissent; "[K]arlan did a lot of very effective writing, and I owe a lot to her and her ability in getting that dissent out. She felt very strongly about it, and I think is correct in her approach to it. I think the dissent is correct."[4]
Karlan, who is openly gay, is not shy about her view points. She's essentially a progressive's progressive. She would be the perfect choice in a perfect world. I don't think the Senate nor Obama would be able to sustain her nomination.
Another pick on the list is Deval Patrick, current governor of MA, wikipedia bio
He and his wife, Diane Patrick, née Bemus (b. 1951), a lawyer specializing in labor and employment law, married in 1984. They have lived in Milton, Massachusetts since 1989 and have two daughters, Sarah and Katherine. In July 2008, Katherine publicly announced that she is a lesbian, and mentioned that her father did not know this while fighting against an anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution. In a joint interview Patrick expressed support for his daughter and said he was proud of her.[7]
As an African American, may excite Obama's African american supporters, and may help him survive a contentious re-election bid in 2010. Hearings would focus on just the standard constitutional issues. Not particularly a contentious pick.
Next is current State Department Legal Advisor, Harold Koh,wikipedia bio:
Koh is a prominent advocate of human rights and civil rights; he has argued and written briefs on a wide number of cases before U.S. appellate courts, and has testified before the U.S. Congress more than a dozen times.[9] He has received numerous awards, medals, and honorary degrees.[9]
Blogger David Lat (editor of abovethelaw.com) and George Mason professor David Bernstein (contributing to the Volokh Conspiracy), have described Koh as a "highly partisan Democrat" and claim that he has politically polarized Yale Law School during his tenure as dean.[17][18] Other observers have countered that during his tenure prominent conservatives have been appointed to the Yale law faculty, and note that Koh has served in both Republican (Reagan) and Democratic (Clinton) administrations. A group of Yale Conservative Law Students offered a vigorous defense of Dean Koh, noting that "Dean Koh has been very supportive of conservative students and conservative student organizations. "[19] [20]They conclude, "Dean Koh is one of the brightest legal minds of his generation, a credit to the profession we look forward to joining, and an able and effective public servant."[21][22]
Koh is also featured prominently in the book Storming the Court.
Very liberal and highly energized defender of human rights would be attacked right off the bat due to this beliefs on international law effecting American law. However, the administration may be able to temper this with a LOT of conservative legal analysts supporting him and Koh's own defense of American drone strikes. Definitely a strong possibility and one to watch. Also has a compelling personal background and life story.
The next one is TARP overseer, Elizabeth Warren, wikipedia bio
Warren was born and raised in Oklahoma, where she was a state champion debater. She graduated from the University of Houston with a B.S. in 1970 and received her J.D. in 1976 from Rutgers Law—Newark, where she served as an Editor to the Rutgers Law Review.
She joined Harvard Law School in 1992 as the Robert Braucher Visiting Professor of Commercial Law. Prior to Harvard, she was the William A. Schnader Professor of Commercial Law at University of Pennsylvania School of Law and also taught at the University of Texas School of Law, University of Houston Law Center, University of Michigan and Rutgers Law School.
From 2005-2008, Warren and her law students wrote a blog called Warren Reports, part of Josh Marshall's TPMCafe.
Warren appeared in the documentary film Maxed Out in 2006, has appeared several times on Dr. Phil to talk about money and families, has been a guest on the Daily Show,[2] is interviewed frequently on cable news networks,[3] appears in Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, and has appeared on the Charlie Rose talk show.[4]
Warren is a member of the FDIC's Committee on Economic Inclusion and the Executive Council of the National Bankruptcy Conference. She is the former Vice-President of the American Law Institute and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She served as the Chief Adviser to the National Bankruptcy Review Commission.
Warren is married to Bruce Mann, a legal historian and law professor also at Harvard Law School. She has a daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, with whom she has coauthored two books and several articles, and a son, Alexander Warren.
An impeccable background and one definitely to watch as none of her writings appear to focus on anything controversial. Nothing on abortion, nothing on gay marriage. Nothing. Which means this would be sort of a gamble on that front. That said, perfectly progressive and would shake the nominations up a bit. I have NO IDEA how Republicans would attack this nomination. I don't think they do either. Watch her as a good possibility.
Finally are the Senators, Amy Klobuchar, and Sheldon Whitehouse, Klobuchar bio and Whitehouse bio
Both of these picks are STRONG progressives, but ultimately unlikely picks, mainly because they have republican governors. Though, hearings would be interesting as colleagues would have to choose to oppose individuals from their own body. A possibility that Obama may go this route, but small.
So here's the choices. I personally like Koh, Warren and Karlan from the list. Who would you choose?