Litigation

Obama ISO a ?Consensus Builder? for Supreme Court

By Peter Hardin

Much has been written about President Obama’s supposed criteria for selecting the next Supreme Court justice, but a new account sounds especially credible and a lot like Obama’s style.

The president dispatched his staff to help him find a “consensus builder” capable of crossing the partisan gulf and working with the conservative majority, a Los Angeles Times article reports:

“Obama is beginning to interview a handful of finalists, looking for the one who might join a divided court and work with members of the conservative majority to moderate their decisions, advisors said.”

The president has been thinking about the blockbuster Citizens United decision, the article adds, noting that if a conservative court were activist, it could reverse more federal statutes won in earlier struggles.

Meanwhile a Newsweek article suggests the president is likely to elevate a woman to the high court bench. According to the Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog, Obama’s short list may be down from 10 to about four names.

To learn more about the nomination process, politics, and Obama?s criteria, check out other Gavel Grab posts or visit Justice at Stake?s ?Replacing Justice Stevens? page.

Full post as published by The Gavel on May 04, 2010 (boomark / email).