Which Judge Does Obama Have A Friend In?

At 89, it’s no surprise that Justice John Paul Stevens has finally chosen to retire. I can’t speak from personal experience, but I’m sure it’s a good age at which to slow down and take things easy. Stevens’s announcement that he would be stepping down and leaving another Supreme Court seat vacant is sure to make the selection of a new Supreme Court Justice one of the most tense political battles of the upcoming summer. There is already rampant speculation about a number of possible judges and politicians who can replace Stevens, the most senior member of the nine justices of the Supreme Court and a key member of the court’s liberal wing.

In 1975…
President Gerald Ford nominates Stevens to the Supreme Court. Initially considered a justice on the conservative side when he begins his tenure, Stevens grows to become a member of the Supreme Court’s liberal side, famously dissenting in the 2000 case Bush v. Gore and then in the 2005 case Van Orden v. Perry, in which the court ruled that a display of the Ten Commandments outside the Texas State Capitol did not violate the First Amendment. Stevens has had a distinguished career, and has the honor of being the fourth longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court.

Back in 2010…
As if Obama didn’t have enough issues to juggle, such as health care, terrorism, the economy, and rogue nations, the job of appointing a new Supreme Court Justice has fallen onto his shoulders. Obama has already had experience with this task; he’s already appointed his first justice Sonia Sotomayor nearly a year ago to the Supreme Court to replace David Souter. There are plenty of issues for Obama to consider in his second Supreme Court pick, such as the legal and political experience of his nominee, the appeal and impact a certain nominee will have on Democrats and Republicans, and any possible skeletons in a nominee’s closet that will increase the difficulty and time of an already lengthy nomination process.

During spring of 2009…
Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor went smoothly, for the most part, especially considering how most Supreme Court confirmations proceed. By selecting a Hispanic woman for the court, Obama cemented the traditionally strong support he receives from Hispanic voters and women, but Republicans, needless to say, were none too pleased throughout the whole process, specifically citing Sotomayor’s now famous “wise Latina” remark, claiming it as an example of playing the race card. Besides voicing the usual complaints about the nominee’s voting record on certain cases, critics of Sotomayor stated that she was unqualified for the Supreme Court and would decide cases based on race and socioeconomic status. Obama needs to avoid picking any more judges that would utter another “wise Latina” comment or anything similar, because doing so would thrust race into the spotlight again, bring up controversial and difficult debates about race, and create difficulty for everyone of all political stripes. The “wise Latina” phrase Sotomayor made was not intentionally harmful or race-baiting, but was vague and could be debated and misconstrued in so many ways, and greatly increased the tension and difficulty of the nomination process.

Some things never change…
Some things are already apparent when looking back at past nominations of Supreme Court justices, both in the Bush and Obama administrations. The same events occur during every endeavor to install a new member to the Supreme Court: the new nominee is praised endlessly by members of the president’s party; the opposition delivers an apprehensive response and makes good on its promise to relentlessly scrutinize every major and minor aspect of the nominee’s background and career, and savage political conflicts ensue until the nominee is finally accepted and inducted as a full fledged Supreme Court member.

In the upcoming days…
Obama needs to make sure to do some things differently this time around if he wants to give himself an easier nomination process. First of all, Obama should focus more on the qualifications, voting record, and other factors of a judge’s background instead of his or her race, which became a major issue during Sotomayor’s confirmation. The nominees available for Obama right now comprise a highly diverse group, and many offer Obama the chance to add more diversity to the court. However, diversity should take a backseat to experience and usefulness in this situation. By now, it’s apparent that after nearly a year in office, Obama needs strong allies in the Supreme Court who he can rely on, due to the perpetual opposition he faces from the Republican Party. In the eyes of the Tea Party protesters (and many conservatives and Republicans), Obama can do no right (no pun intended). After months of attempting to achieve compromise and bipartisanship with the opposition, which is about as easy as finding the Holy Grail or understanding quantum chemistry, Obama should realize that he needs to just find someone who closely supports his plans and does not have any outstanding past issues that Republicans could pick apart and attack.

Thus…
The latter requirement would mean that Janet Napolitano, current Homeland Security Secretary and possible candidate, should under no circumstances be nominated, because she ruined her own credibility and the Obama administration’s reputation by infamously insisting that “the system worked” after a terrorist attack almost succeeded on Christmas on Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Another name being floated around is Jennifer Granholm, governor of Michigan, but considering the moribund state of Detroit and Michigan’s current unemployment rate of 14.6% reported by the Department of Labor, Republicans will find plenty on Granholm’s record to criticize. One interesting possibility is Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Advisor of the Department of State and former dean of Yale Law School. Considered one of the most liberal possible candidates, Koh could potentially make history as the first Asian American member of the Supreme Court, giving Obama further credit for introducing diversity, but Koh’s strong liberal positions will infuriate and invigorate Republicans to no end.

Instead of them…
Better choices for the Supreme Court Obama should consider include Elena Kagan, current US Solicitor General who is usually seen as a moderate Democrat that some Republicans can at least tolerate. Having served as Associate White House Counsel under the Clinton Administration, the first female dean of Harvard Law School, and many other notable positions, Kagan has an impressive resume. Another good option is Merrick Garland, whose claim to fame was leading the investigation and prosecution of Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber. Garland has a reputation as a moderate and like Kagan, has a diverse and lengthy career in law, having been a Harvard Law School professor, assistant to the Attorney General, and Court of Appeals judge. A nominee with no judicial experience is an interesting possibility; Deval Patrick, Massachusetts governor, can be a right choice. His state features a healthcare plan similar to the one Obama has championed, he has a colorful career as a lawyer and prosecutor, but his personal friendship with Obama and tenure as governor could make him vulnerable to Republican questioning.

In the weeks and months to come…
Whoever Obama appoints as the hopeful successor to Stevens, he has to keep in mind that he needs someone who he can trust and depend on as a supporter of his policies to make his term run more smoothly. Instead of searching for someone who the Republicans can approve of, Obama should just choose a judge who does not have outstanding skeletons in their closets or who will turn race and gender into major issues, because those are the last things the nation needs right now.