Word: courtelis
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...Obama has had some time to consider his choices. The recent health problems of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer but following surgery in February has returned to the court, already had the White House thinking; indeed, some observers believe that Ginsburg's problems may have delayed Souter's decision, since justices try not to retire at the same time, to allow for an orderly nomination and confirmation process...
...Souter himself hadn't hidden from the new Administration his desire to leave. Outsiders had picked up indications: though Souter has always been the last of his colleagues to choose his clerks for the next term, court watchers had focused with increasing interest on the fact that Souter, alone among the justices, still not yet finalized his picks as of late April...
...will get his job? There is near consensus among sources inside and outside the Administration that the President will pick a woman. George W. Bush replaced one of the court's two women, Sandra Day O'Connor with a man, Justice Samuel Alito, after Bush's legal counsel, Harriet Miers, withdrew under attack from the right. The other near-absolute requirement will be relative youth, as Obama and the Democrats will want to ensure a left-of-center voice for decades to come on a court featuring two relatively young conservative justices, Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. (See pictures...
...Another person who will be seriously considered is Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit court of appeals in Chicago. A very smart and hard-working liberal, Wood knows Obama, though not well, and is the most respected judge among the likely candidates. She has a few knocks against her, though. At 59, she may be older than Obama and the Democrats would like. And she's from Obama's adopted hometown of Chicago, which means her nomination could appear politically provincial...
...Sonia Sotomayor, 55, of the Second Circuit court of appeals is a strong candidate for a number of reasons. A relative centrist from the Bronx, New York, she is 55 and has a 12-year, highly respected and largely uncontroversial record as a judge. If Obama chose her she would become the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. That's no small consideration. As their numbers have grown in the U.S., Hispanics have become a key target of political competition between the Democrats and Republicans, and many in the community believe it is time for them to be represented...