The Next Supreme Court Justice?

John McCain's statement that he wants to appoint conservative Supreme Court justices in the mold of George W. Bush's appointments, John Roberts and Samuel Alito, should be reason enough for any fence-sitters on this fall's election. More justices like Roberts and Alito will ensure we will have a society with back-alley abortions, a streamlined execution process, and continued unchecked executive power that will allow the president to ass-rape the constitution. If you want your phone calls listened to by some government stooge, vote McCain.

If Barack Obama is elected president, that will be a huge break for our beleaguered civil rights. It is highly likely that as many as three sitting justices will retire in the next presidential term: John Paul Stevens, who is 88, Ruth Ginsberg, who is in her seventies but has had some health issues, and David Souter, who according to reports has always been uncomfortable on the Court and may retire out of boredom and pique (he considered quitting after the Gore v. Bush decision).

Who will be Obama's choice? Last year court-watcher Tom Goldstein prepared a list of 30 names. I think it's safe to say that Eliot Spitzer won't get a call, and Obama himself is on the list, and I believe it would be a conflict of interest for him to be both president and on the Supreme Court. The list is dominated by women and minorities--but no matter who is elected it is likely to be someone of Hispanic descent. Also, since Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement was Alito, the court has gone down to one woman. Obama, then, will probably select a Hispanic woman.

And who would that be? After spending some time Googling yesterday there is a consensus on two candidates: Sonia Sotomayor and Kim Wardlaw. Sotomayor, of Puerto Rican heritage, is a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals who is long been believed to be the next Democratic choice for the Court. She is best known for a decision against the Major League Baseball owners during the last work stoppage. Originally appointed to the District Court by the first President Bush (as part of a deal with then Senator Moynihan), her promotion to the Court of Appeals was fought by Republicans, and she got 29 nay votes. If Democrats control the Senate, though, as it appears likely, Obama can nominate anyone he likes.

Wardlaw (she is half-Mexican) is a judge on the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. There hasn't been any mass mobilization against her, but of course the screaming mimis on the right will squawk about anyone Obama should nominate.

Of course, unless she's Vice President, Obama could kick Hillary Clinton into the cloistered world of the Supreme Court, where she wouldn't be heard from again. I'm sure that would be a tantalizing prospect for a President Obama.