Litigation

Sides Scoping out Battles on Supreme Court Picks

By Peter Hardin

You can bet  that both the White House and political activists on the other side are zeroing in on the potential vulnerabilities of the leading candidates to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens.

That’s because opponents can be certain to seize on any vulnerabilities to brand a nominee as a supposed liberal judicial activist, the New York Times explains in an article explaining some of the strategizing behind a Supreme Court pick.

Here’s the handicapping on three individuals often labeled frontrunners for President Obama’s nomination, and how foes could target them, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Times:

• Solicitor General Elena Kagan: “Conservatives are likely to accuse her of subordinating national security to a gay rights agenda.” (A Washington Post article is headlined,  “Foes may target Kagan’s stance on military recruitment at Harvard.)
• Appeals Court Judge Diane P. Wood: “Conservatives would seek to portray her as an abortion-rights extremist who is hostile to Christians.” (For detail, check out another Washington Post article, “Abortion rulings could bring scrutiny of possible Supreme Court pick Wood.)
• Appeals Court Judge Merrick B. Garland: “There might be enough material to portray him as a proponent of Big Government regulations who wants to give greater rights to people accused of terrorism.”

Walter Dellinger, who was solicitor general during the Bill Clinton administration, said attacks must be expected on any nominee in this era. ?But I think the attacks from the right are not credible about any of these three,? Dellinger added.

In other articles, Newsweek’s The Gaggle blog predicted announcement of a nomination between May 1 and May 15.

Albert R. Hunt wrote a Bloomberg commentary entitled, “Supreme Court Needs Politicians, Not Ideologues,” and the Wall Street Journal explored talk about that theme in a subscription-only article.

The tendency of appointees to the high court since 1990 to offer fewer surprises on the bench was examined in a New York Times article that attributed this to “increased scrutiny of more robust paper trails and less ideological drift.”

Gavel Grab’s media report for Monday includes numerous other articles and commentaries about the future of the Supreme Court after Justice Stevens’ retirement, the political landscape for a nomination and about potential nominees.

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 19, 2010 (boomark / email).