Legal News

Is the U.S. Ready for a Gay Justice?

By Ashby Jones

Is the country ready for a openly gay Supreme Court justice? Are you, LBers, ready for a openly gay Supreme Court justice?

A recent poll taken by Vanity Fair and CBS News indicates that the nation could be ready for one. According to the poll, 55 percent of those asked said they would support an openly gay Supreme Court justice, with 40 percent saying they oppose the notion. (Hat tip: ABA Journal.) Click here for some quick analysis on the poll, courtesy of New York Magazine’s Daily Intel.

The issue is academic for now, but it might not be for long. President Obama may soon inherit another Supreme Court vacancy, if Justice John Paul Stevens, who will be 90 next month, decides to step down. Two candidates rumored to have been on his short list after David Souter stepped down last year, Stanford Law professor Pam Karlan and former Stanford Law Dean and current Quinn Emanuel name partner, Kathleen Sullivan, are openly gay.

The nomination of a gay man or woman to the High Court may not derail his or her candidacy, but would likely provide an extra hurdle. On the prospect of it, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), said last year that it made him “uneasy.”

And how do poll respondents feel about the prospect of an openly gay president? Fifty percent say they would support the idea; 44 percent say they’re against it. Of all the categories asked in the poll, the respondents seem to feel the most comfortable with the idea of an openly gay Super Bowl quarterback: 62 percent say they’d support that idea; 29 percent say they’d oppose it.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 30, 2010 (boomark / email).