Last time President Obama had a chance to fill a Supreme Court vacancy, lesbians Kathleen Sullivan and Pam Karlan were supposedly on the shortlist. And now that Justice John Paul Stevens, who is 90, plans on retiring? The front-runners appear to be federal appellate judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland and U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the lesbian former Harvard Law dean who’s held the post since March 2009 (and became the first woman to do so), and who was also a top contender in the race that eventually seated Sonia Sotomayor.
As we understand it, Kagan is out, but has not commented on her sexuality for reporters. But most notable about Kagan is not her sexuality, but her status: While all the Supreme Court’s sitting justices have been judges, Kagan has never held a bench seat.
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Michael @ LeonardMatlovich.com
OF COURSE, he will because I’m certain that the reason he didn’t appoint a gay to fill the last vacancy is that they all turned him down for some reason.
But we can be confidant SOME gay, even if not Kagan, will be joining that out gay member of his Cabinet and the out gay Secretary of the Navy.
What? Those appointments never happened?
Never mind.
terrwill
A Leezbean on the Supreme Curt???? Think the deep south may again succeed from the Union……….(which, I personally have zero problems with)
delurker again
I think it’s going to Diane Wood. The female liberal bench is very deep to chose from. I doubt Obama will ever pick a white male, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
PopSnap
If he does pick her, it will have been a HUGE boon to the gay community on his behalf, and may even come close to making up for the lack of progress on certain issues.
terrwill
One thing you can bet the farm on: Justice Stevens will step down by summer and the process will be completed well before the mid-term elections. No way in the world Obama is going to risk not being able to seat another pick and have to make a compromise with the repugnaticans if the Dems lose the majority in November………
tjr101
If Obama picks Kagan we might as well grab the popcorn and prepare for a filibuster festival (I hope Kagan is thick skinned). But then again the repugnant party will even filibuster Jesus just to spite Obama. This is Obama’s last chance to put a sound liberal on the court after Justice Sotomayor since he is likely not to have a majority of this present size next year.
Paul Reynolds
What the hell has the Deep South to do with anything? Hopefully, Obama will choose someone based on their Judicial experience and evenhandedness.
Unlikely though, as he’s just another professional victim like the rest of you
DR
She has no judicial experience and minimal litigation experience; most of her legal career has been academic as opposed to any type of real world practice. While some recent Justices were never sitting Judges prior to appointment, they made up for it with real world experience. She’s been a law professor and policymaker under Clinton. I personally wouldn’t select her as my first choice. Garland and Wood both can match her experience AND have the advantage of being sitting Judges.
If Kagan has a difficult time getting appointed, her sexual orientation will be the least of the reasons based on her credentials.
mdthom
@tjr101: It doesn’t matter who he picks the GOP has already said they would filibuster.
ofcourseiamsmarterthanyou
@terrwill: it’s secede, not succeed…nitwit
doubter
@DR: you’d do well to remember that one very respected jurist (albeit one of the far right persuasion) was only an academic before being appointed (Hint: starts with a “Sca” and ends with a “lia”)
doubter
@DR: also…being Solicitor General gives her PLENTY of litigation experience in front of the very court she would be serving in. While she doesn’t have experience on the bench itself, she does know just as much about how the court works (probably more so) than any of the other potential nominees. When looked at more closely your arguments don’t seem to have much merit.
pupsik
Kagan? Axelrod and Emanuel are sticking another Jew (and a lesbian) into the Supreme Court. Chomsky is right – we are becoming Weimar Germany, and that’s going to end in another disaster for the Jews, perhaps even the last one. They never learn, do they!