In light of Justice Souter’s recent announcement that he is stepping down from the U.S. Supreme Court in June, my colleagues and I were joining with the pundits in pondering who his replacement might be. Many are speculating that President Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee will likely be a woman to fill the space left by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. With a nod to the notable lack of diversity on the current bench, others have suggested that the prospective justice will be of Hispanic descent, possibly even a Hispanic woman. And, since these are lifetime appointments, it is also assumed that the nominee will be under the age of 60.
That’s what others are saying. Who’s your pick? What qualities or characteristics do you want to see in the next Supreme Court justice? Obviously, the need for extensive judicial training and experience goes without saying. But does it necessarily have to be a woman, or would you be satisfied with a man who advocates on behalf of women’s issues? Flashing back to discussions of whether AAUW should support Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin, would you support a woman nominee just because she’s a woman? Let us know what you think. AAUW’s new report on President Obama’s first 100 days analyzes how women’s issues have fared under the new administration; how do you think they will fare under a new Supreme Court?
One of the possible candidates for SCOTUS is Kimberle W. Crenshaw, a legal scholar and civil rights advocate, who is a graduate of Harvard Law and currently a professor at UCLA. There is a website (http://www.crenshaw4scotus.com/) where her achievements are documented in detail.
I do think that President Obama’s next appointments should be women. No, I wouldn’t support just any woman, such as Sarah Palin. It is long past time for white males to be in the super-majority.
I think we all want quality and experience–that should be a given, but honestly, why not a woman? Another woman deserves to be appointed to the Supreme Court at this point. Without a voice it is doubtful that any man will be as committed to our concerns (which are actually their concerns as well!) Now of course it does have to be the RIGHT woman.
Interesting article in Womens ENews about how President Nixon’s gaffe when justices Harlan and Black stepped down–”to appoint the best man for the job.”, galvanized action which led to the appointment of the first female justice TEN YEARS LATER with Sandra Day O’Connor.
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3999
There’s also a great article on Slate at http://www.slate.com/id/2217714/. “An Unnatural Woman:
The secret life of a Supreme Court short-lister.” It talks about how any single middle-aged professional woman is rumored to be either lonely, without a life, a misfit, or a lesbian, simply because she doesn’t have a husband. Justice Souter isn’t married, but I’ve never heard any of those types of comments directed toward him simply because he doesn’t have a wife. Interesting twist on the SCOTUS pick debate.
Politico reported that two potential candidates for the SCOTUS seat are gay women. I would like to see merit AND diversity in the nominee. But in light of the fact that 106 of the last 110 SCOTUS judges were heterosexual, white males, any other characteristics would bring diversity at this point.