Litigation

Three Lead Speculation for High Court Seat

By Peter Hardin

Two appeals court judges and the U.S. solicitor general are in the forefront of  news media speculation about leading candidates whom President Obama might select to succeed Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Solicitor General Elena Kagan (left), 49, is the first woman to hold that job. She was associate White House counsel under President Clinton, taught law at the University of Chicago and was dean at Harvard Law School.

Judge Diane Wood (right), 59, sits on the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. She clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun, taught at the University of Chicago Law School and worked in the U.S. Justice Department.

Judge Merrick B. Garland (center), 57, sits on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He clerked for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. and worked at the U.S. Justice Department before he became a judge.

To learn more about Justice Stevens’ life, check out a biography from Justice at Stake’s Web site.

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 09, 2010 (boomark / email).