Legal Research

Justice David Souter appears poised to leave the Supreme Court before the October term begins.  Appointed by the first President Bush, he has been a reliable upholder of reproductive rights throughout his tenure.  He joined the minority in dissenting from the decision in Bush v. Gore, arguing that there was no reason the state should be stopped from counting the disputed ballots.

With Specter now a Democrat, and Al Franken expected to be confirmed the winner in Minnesota (it feels odd just typing that, though I suppose no odder than typing Governor Jesse Ventura - what is it about those Minnesotans, anyway?), by the time the confirmation hearings on whoever President Obama appoints as a successor are held, there will be 60 Democrats in the Senate. 

Possible nominees include Elena Kagan, the solicitor general; Sonia Sotomayor, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Diane Wood, of the Seventh Circuit.  Wood, who clerked for Harry Blackmun, author of Roe v. Wade, and has cited that decision in several of her opinions, would bring a more predictable vote for women's rights.  She would also arouse the most partisan ire.  The other two likely nominees, particularly Elena Kagan, would be much less controversial.  It will be interesting to see whether or not President Obama goes with the controversial Wood, or avoids confronting the abortion issue head-on by choosing another nominee.