The Choice On The Court

It looks like Obama has narrowed his options for the high court to an even half-dozen:

Among the finalists are federal appeals court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Wood, and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak by the White House.

Women make up all but one of the top candidates currently being given serious scrutiny, the sources said.

Also on the list, a source said, was California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno. The 60-year-old Los Angeles, California, native was not among the early favorites mentioned by legal analysts and the media. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs previously hinted some of the names under consideration were under the political radar.

Moreno's a bit of a surprise. We don't have a political media here in California, so I honestly couldn't tell you much about him. He's the only Democrat on the California Supreme Court, and he has voted with the forces of equality in the Prop. 8 fight.

I'm glad Sotomayor remains, despite the 5th grade lunchroom gossip tossed around about her in official Washington. Napolitano would surprise me, but Granholm wouldn't, considering that Obama has been offering the Governor bailout, seeing that recessionary times are bad ones for the chief executives of states (especially Michigan). I do wish that Pam Karlan would still be in contention, simply because she seems smart as a whip.



But I guess intelligence and forthrightness is too hippie-ish.

...Rick Hasen thinks Diane Wood will get the nod due in part to her U. of Chicago roots.