Supreme Court: 'The diversity criteria'

by Mark Silva

Anyone seriously interested in filling the imminent opening on the Supreme Court is probably loathe to get on too many publicly discussed lists, but our friend and colleague Jan Crawford Greenburg and the crew at ABC News have compiled an Obama court-pick "short list'' worth seeing both for its names and its handicapping.

There is federal appellate judge Sonio Sotomayor, one of the candidates who could meet two high-value criteria for President Barack Obama's first court appointment: Both female and Hispanic. "She has an inspiring life story, having grown up in housing projects and going on to graduate from Princeton University and Yale Law School,'' ABC's vetting says. But then there is the "so-far anonymous campaign'' against her "less than cordial relationship with some colleagues on the bench and.... abrasive personality. ''

There is Elena Kagan, Obama's own solicitor general at the Justice Department, Harvard Law grad and clerk for Thurgood Marshall. "She is an intellectual heavyweight,'' while critics say "she has no real experience in the court room, having served mainly in academic and policy-making positions.''

There is Diane Wood, a 7th Circuit federal appellate judge in Chicago, who has "life experience and a sterling resume, including service as a federal appeals court judge, work in private practice, time spent as a professor and positions in the U.S. government,'' but critics warn of an opinion she wrote "applying RICO -- a statute designed for mob prosecutions -- to prevent pro life activists from engaging in protests.''

There is Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan, another Harvard Law grad and former federal prosecutor, Michigan's first female attorney general. " Her varied experience would serve her well,'' though "she has no experience on the bench.'' She once appearing on The Dating Game.

There is Leah Ward Sears, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, the first African American woman to become a chief justice in the country, first black woman to sit in the federal judiciary and first woman to serve on Georgia's Supreme Court. "She has a flaw on her record,'' ABC News notes. "Sears was fined for violating campaign contribution laws during her 2004 re-election effort.... She paid $3,100 in fines but the mark on her record could be a problem during the vetting process.''

There is Kim McLane Wardlaw, federal appellate judge in the 9th Circuit, a graduate of UCLA Law School. She, too, could become the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. She has political experience, in the campaigns of Sen. Dianne Feinstein and former President Bill Clinton, but also sits on a court that ruled, in a controversial case currently before the Supreme Court, that Arizona middle school officials violated a student's rights by strip-searching her on suspicion of using prescription strength ibuprofen.

There is Nargaret McKeown, another member of the 9th Circuit appellate court, a Georgetown Law graduate who has worked in business as well, representing corporate clients such as Boeing. She also wrote "a controversial opinion in 2007 that was seen as deferring to the Bush Administration in a lawsuit by an Islamic charity claiming it was illegally wiretapped. ''

There is Deval Patrick, governor of Massachusetts, Harvard Law grad and first African-American governor of Massachusetts. He too worked in business, for Coca Cola, and has argued before the Supreme Court, winning a voting rights case in 1997 as head of the Civil Rights Division. He caught some flak for upgrading his state car from a Ford to a Cadillac, has been "criticized for taking a position on the board of the now-defunct Ameriquest Capital Corp., a mortgage company accused of predatory lending practices,'' and is having some problems in the opinion polls lately.

There is Cass Sunstein, a professor at Harvard Law School and head of Obama's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Another onetime clerk for Thurgood Marshall, he is considered a leading legal scholar. "He would be a judicial rock star on the court who could easily go toe-to-toe with Roberts and Scalia and leave a lasting legacy for Obama,'' writes the ABC team with Greenburg, who first predicted and then broke the story about the appointment of Roberts as chief justice during her time at the Chicago Tribune. But "as a white man from the rarefied world of academia -- who graduated from and taught at elite educational institutions -- he flunks the "diversity" criteria. ''