Academic

Faculty Blogs: Bring Me the Opinions of Sonia Sotomayor

While the press and many blogs have engaged in widespread speculation (see below) about who President Obama may pick for the Supreme Court, SCOTUSBlog has been methodically analyzing the opinions of the leading candidate, Sonia Sotomayor.  The (now) four-part series suggests that she is no radical, and would likely rule in a manner not unlike the person she is replacing, David Souter.

Direct links to the series:

• I (civil opinions)
• II (civil opinions)
• III (civil pinions)
• IV (civil opinions
• MORE as posted ...

SCOTUSBlog has also promised an anaylsis of criminal law cases.

The range of candidates whose names have been raised, touted, floated, etc. makes it useful to bookmark Wikipedia's "Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates," which lists all rumored candidates and has links to citations to the particular news story where their names have been floated, and, when possible, links a wikipedia article about the candidate.  My own pet theory* is that Gov. Jennifer Granholm will be picked. A fellow Harvard law alum and a top confident of the president, she has been intially rumored for many cabinet positions but somehow is not in the mix at the end.  This leads me to think that Obama has some other idea for Granholm. 

I agree that Sotomayor's selection is the conventional wisdom.  However, I think a dark horse is California Supreme Court Justice Carlos R. Moreno, whose maleness has led to him being discounted--at least this time--because of the entirely correct view that the 1-8 gender ratio of the court needs to be balanced.  However, if Granholm gets this pick, Moreno--a Mexican-American who has served on both state and federal courts--would be a very appealling choice for Obama's second Supreme Court selection.

*Essentially groundless, little more reasoned than my Belmont pick (Mind That Bird)...

Full post as published by University of Louisville Law Faculty on May 20, 2009 (boomark / email).