David Souter Is Leaving The Supreme Court. We Shun, Shag, Or Marry Possible Replacements.

Shun, Shag, Or Marry: Who Should Get The Empty Supreme Court Seat?

Posted by: Deborah Stein Filed in: news
3:30PM, Wednesday May 20th 2009

Supreme Court Justice David Souter is a wackadoodle. He’s eaten the same lunch everyday for 19 years—yogurt and an apple. He refuses to get a computer. And even though he was appointed by Republican George Bush, he usually sides with the liberally-minded folks on the bench. Now that Souter is retiring, we hope Obama will fill the seat with someone equally as interesting.

Rumor has it that Obama wants a woman for the job — which warms our hearts and our wombs, since there’s only one woman left on the court, and her health isn’t so great. At the top of Obama’s short list: solicitor general Elena Kagan, judge Sonia Sotomayer, and Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan. Each met privately with the President yesterday in Washington, DC. Who should the seat go to? We shun, shag, or marry this girl-power menagerie after the jump.

Shun: Governor of Michigan Jennifer Granholm
She’s young (for a politician), hot, and successful—all of which are great qualifications. (Obama called her our best-looking governor.) But as an elected official, she’s built her career responding to the shifting desires of voters. As Souter showed us, you have to march to the beat of your own judicial drummer. Granholm should stay in Michigan, where ailing car manufacturers need her help. [NPR]

Shag: Solicitor General Elena Kagan
We’d marry her if she didn’t already have a job we want her to stay in. As the first female solicitor general, Kagan argues cases on behalf of the government. As the former dean of Harvard Law School and an expert on the first amendment, we can’t think of anyone we’d rather have as our collective lawyer. [LA Times]

Marry: Judge Sonia Sotomayer
Sonia started out as a Manhattan D.A. and did stints with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund and the New York Mortgage Agency, where she helped low-income homeowners and AIDS organizations. This real world experience is reflected in her manner on the bench, where she’s tackled copyright law and sided with labor since the 1995 baseball strike. This Bronx-born gal would be the first Hispanic justice, and if that’s not enough, she once told the New York Times that she became a lawyer because of “Perry Mason.” [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/01/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-c_n_194470.html]

Who do you hope gets appointed?

[Photos: AP/USDOJ/Harvard]

comments

tabby
wrote on May 20 2009 @ 03:38 pm: [report]

I will gladly take any of them! (However, as a Michigander, I am a little terrified about what would happen to us if Jennifer gets called up to the majors.)

Arty
wrote on May 20 2009 @ 03:48 pm: [report]

Being from Michigan (although I now live elsewhere), I hope they pick Granholm just to get her away from the state. We need some fresh blood who can actually do some good.

retro chic
wrote on May 20 2009 @ 04:10 pm: [report]

I think, so far, I’d go with Kagan. If she’s argued cases on behalf of the gov’t, she knows where the bodies are buried in the system, and can poke bigger holes in it. I’m a pragmatist here, not an idealist.
Note to author, I wouldn’t cite watching Perry Mason to make Sotomayer’s case for cred or motivation for law.

annie_hall
wrote on May 20 2009 @ 05:43 pm: [report]

Granholm, she’s serving her last term as governor and she would be a perfect fit for Souter’s spot.

marv3mania
wrote on May 20 2009 @ 07:33 pm: [report]

I’ve tried to like Granholm (even voted for her), but she’s not a very good governor. However, I think she has a temperance more suited to the Supreme Court than either Kagan or Sotomayer (who’s supposedly a hot-head). And as a law student, I would actually be relieved to see someone on the bench who hasn’t spent her entire life in the judicial branch. Politicians see the repercussions of their actions; Supreme Court justices don’t. It would be nice to have that type of perspective, maybe bring a liberal (which Granholm is) who has the charisma and intelligence necessary to win votes from the opposition. So I support Granholm.