[DeilMikina]

CNN is reporting tonight that the resignation of Justice Stevens is expected at some time this month.

Related:

In an interview in early March, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said he would make up his mind in about a month's time about when to retire from the High Court. That deadline is fast approaching.

The anchor of the court's liberal wing, Justice Stevens has made it clear that his days on the bench are numbered. Stevens told legal savant and New Yorker contributor Jeffrey Toobin the following: "You can say I will retire within the next three years. I'm sure of that."

Speculation about the timing of a Justice's retirement invariably tends to be just that -- speculative. (Prognosticators who tried to divine the direction of monetary policy by looking at the size of ex-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's briefcase were proven embarrassingly wrong).

But where Justice Stevens is concerned, the signs are increasingly suggestive: the octogenarian is on the brink of turning 90 and last fall, he appointed a single law clerk, as opposed to his usual four.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_513971.html

[Ltftujkg]

Yet another thing for FOX to strike a massive "panties in a bundle" episode among the masses by moving from a psuedo "fair and balanced" media network to political activists... Great.

And to think... Tea probably makes Justice Stevens incontinent...

[iNYZgxNC]

I think he's probably the most interesting man in Washington. If it's true, I hope he lives long enough to enjoy a few years of relaxed retirement.

[DeilMikina]

I think he's probably the most interesting man in Washington. If it's true, I hope he lives long enough to enjoy a few years of relaxed retirement.

And to write a really juicy book.

[Ltftujkg]

And to write a really juicy book.

At his age, anything juicy may be extremely dangerous.

[cinggooft]

And to write a really juicy book.

Would never happen. Supreme Court justices exist in their own world, rarely granting interviews. It seems to be some behind closed door pledge they take. They don't allow hearings to be televised, they actively disengage from public discussion. Supposedly the then seated Court was scandalized by Woodward's "The Brethren", because they could not beleive Potter Stewart revealed so many details about how the Court came to some of its biggest decisions during the 70s (it wasn't publicly revealed that it was Stewart that cooperated with Woodward until after Stewart's death).

Shame, because some of the personal stuff that leaks out is fascinating. Of all of them, te two closest personally are Scalia and Ginsberg who are politically probably the two furthest apart in their beliefs.

[OvDojQXN]

The President is being urged to pick a non Ivy League justice.

This past Sunday, during the panel session on "Fox News Sunday", the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol, a Harvard graduate and professor, urged the president with his next Supreme Court pick to stand up to a powerful interest: the Ivy League.
"I think it would be good to have a nominee that stood up against powerful interests like the elite law schools, which are a powerful interest in the U.S. and have done a lot of damage," Kristol said. "And I believe if Elena Kagan is nominated, which I expect, the Solicitor General, every person on the court will have gone to Ivy League law school."
This was surely not just a bit of self-deprecation on Kristol's part. Nor was it an attempt to sabotage Kagan's chances. After all, he went on to nearly endorse Kagan, saying that she was a "very respectable choice" with "impressive academic credentials."

Rather, Kristol's sentiment is part of a broader populist wave that has become a feature of recent Supreme Court nomination and confirmation battles. An Ivy League education or a career in the "judicial monastery" (see: U.S. Court of Appeals or the academic world) is considered as much a vice as a virtue. A humble origin with a non-traditional resume -- and certainly adding a bit of diversity to a bench that has been composed almost exclusively of white men -- is in vogue.
(...)
It started most prominently with Richard Nixon, whose own personal insecurities made him naturally predisposed to the argument that the court would benefit from the inclusion of people of non-privileged upbringing.
"He didn't want an Ivy Leaguer," said David Yalof, a political science professor at the University of Connecticut. "He went to Duke and had a paranoia that Harvard people looked down at him. He surrounded himself with Ivy Leagues types... But he was very interested in his first term to name someone who wasn't an Ivy Leaguer. The irony, of course is that three of his four justices attended Harvard (Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist). The only justice of the four who had no ties whatsoever was the Chief Justice Warren Burger, who went to the University of Minnesota."
(...)
All of which leads up to Obama's pending choice to replace Stevens. While Kristol may already be bemoaning the possibility of another Ivy Leaguer on the court, the betting money is that such a person will end up there regardless. Kagan, after all, has emerged as the frontrunner. Another choice, Merrick Garland, went to Harvard undergrad and law school; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. state of Georgia, Leah Ward Sears, is a graduate of Cornell; Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm went to Harvard Law too, and Harvard Law Professor Martha Minow got her masters at Harvard before going to Yale for her law degree. The only short-listers who satisfy Kristol's demand are Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Judge Diane Wood.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_535853.html

[OvDojQXN]

Don't forget that Kristol is one of the powers behind the throne of Sarah Palin. I'm just sayin'.

[cinggooft]

Don't forget that Kristol is one of the powers behind the throne of Sarah Palin. I'm just sayin'.

Somehow, I simply don't see Obama making a phone call to Kristol to solicit his opinion on the appointee.

[OvDojQXN]

Somehow, I simply don't see Obama making a phone call to Kristol to solicit his opinion on the appointee.

[RlUbQU3R]

Isn't this a bit of a chicken and an egg story? If you are a really talented student and can afford it why would you NOT study in an Ivy league law school (similar for grad schools with few additions)?

[casinobonusa]

Somehow, I simply don't see Obama making a phone call to Kristol to solicit his opinion on the appointee.

I would call. Get a full list of all possible choices Kristol (and Sarah) would consider.
Then do as we do with our suicide pools and our faves: mark them as DNP.

[Theariwinna]

Kristol fascinates me. I think he's one of the smartest people I've ever encountered

[OvDojQXN]

Leading gay rights group are accusing Republicans of trying to rile up their conservative base by launching a whisper campaign against potential Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan -- suggesting the current Solicitor General is a closeted lesbian even though she's not.

In its first entree into the upcoming Supreme Court nomination process, the group Human Rights Campaign blasted the increasingly public discussion of Kagan's sexuality, calling it a play "straight out the right-wing playbook."
(...)
In a separate interview, Jean-Marie Navetta, spokeswoman from PFLAG -- Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays -- accused people of trying to manufacture scandal out of thin air.
"People love taking part in rumors like this, whether they're gay or not, because it implies that there's some sort of scandal going on there. And the bottom line is, it doesn't matter and it shouldn't matter," she said. "But we hear it all the time... it's a gossip point for people. And I think it could certainly be used, or be perceived to be used by some as a way to discredit [Kagan], even though we all know that it does not matter and it should not matter."

The comments come a day after CBS published a blog by Ben Domenech, a former Bush administration aide and Republican Senate staffer, in which he asserted that choosing Kagan would help Obama "please" much of his base, because she would be the "first openly gay justice." The White House reacted strongly to the assertion, relaying that Kagan is, in fact, straight. It was the first public pushback by the administration in defense of any potential Supreme Court nominee.
(...)
Even before the CBS post, a top conservative religious group was already insisting that a nominee's sexuality would play a major role in his or her confirmation process. This past week, the organization Focus on the Family abruptly reversed its position from the last Supreme Court confirmation battle by declaring it would oppose a gay Supreme Court pick, no matter who the nominee is.

The fact that the rumor campaign surrounding Kagan has been settled doesn't necessarily mean that the issue is off the table, Republicans still seem poised to make gay rights a prominent feature of the confirmation process -- should she be chosen as Justice John Paul Stevens' replacement. Already conservative websites are latching on to a brief signed by Kagan and 40 Harvard Law School professors in which they argued that the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was discriminatory against gay troops.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_540276.html

[Ltftujkg]

I hate situations like this. Of course, if she's straight, then she's straight, and there's nothing wrong with saying that. But these kinds of denials, to me, always seems to reinforce the notion that there would have been something "wrong" if she was in fact a lesbian. But I guess there wasn't anything else the White House could do.

::

When did they remove fact-checking from the journalistic curricula? Because I remember that point coming through loud and clear when I was a journalism student. Of course, that's back when the first Bush was president... And Dynasty was on its way downhill... And Miss Ellie had breast cancer...

[Theariwinna]

I hate situations like this. Of course, if she's straight, then she's straight, and there's nothing wrong with saying that. But these kinds of denials, to me, always seems to reinforce the notion that there would have been something "wrong" if she was in fact a lesbian. But I guess there wasn't anything else the White House could do.

::

When did they remove fact-checking from the journalistic curricula? Because I remember that point coming through loud and clear when I was a journalism student. Of course, that's back when the first Bush was president... And Dynasty was on its way downhill... And Miss Ellie had breast cancer...

I also don't quite get why gay rights groups are dealing with this situation. Especially with respect to whether it's true or not that she'd gay

[iNYZgxNC]

It would be so awesome if Obama put someone openly gay on the Supreme Court.

I LOL just thinking about the Teabagger reaction.

[cinggooft]

It's official:

Stevens 'leaves at the top of his game,' Obama says By the CNN Wire Staff
April 9, 2010 3:44 p.m. EDT

Washington (CNN) -- Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said Friday he will retire this year, giving President Obama another opportunity to shape the nation's highest court.

Stevens, who turns 90 on April 20 and has served nearly 35 years on the court, announced his resignation in a brief letter delivered to the White House at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Obama lauded the retiring justice Friday afternoon and said he will move quickly to fill the vacancy before the court reconvenes in October.

"He turns 90 this month, but he leaves at the top of his game," the president said from the White House. "His leadership will be sorely missed."

Stevens referred to the timing of his resignation in his letter to Obama.

"My dear Mr. President," Stevens wrote. "Having concluded that it would be in the best interests of the court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the court's next term, I shall retire from regular active service as an associate justice ... effective the next day after the court rises for the summer recess this year."

White House counsel Bob Bauer discussed Stevens' retirement by telephone Friday morning with Obama, who was returning from Europe aboard Air Force One.

Stevens was at a second home Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a court official said.

Speculation over Stevens had increased after he confirmed last fall he hired one law clerk for the next court term, which begins in October. Sitting justices can hire four law clerks, while retired members get only one.

Stevens also was not on the bench for a brief public session Monday; the court will hold its next public session in two weeks.

Rest of story: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/09/...ex.html?hpt=T1

[OvDojQXN]

I've only seen one list of "potentials". Of the nine listed there are only two males.

The early front runner is Elena Kagan, the Solicitor General.


I'm hoping they'll pick Cass Sunstein.


The list is on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_531712.html

[OvDojQXN]

The New York Times list:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...andidates.html