Obama Interviews 7th Circuit Judge Diane Wood for Potential Supreme Court Nod
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden today interviewed 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Wood for a potential seat on the nation’s top court, reports the Caucus blog of the New York Times.
It is the fourth set of in-person interviews that the two have conducted concerning the vacancy created by the planned retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens at the end of the court’s current term, the newspaper says. It relies on an unidentified source for the information, which was not confirmed by the White House; however, the Associated Press and the 44 blog of the Washington Post also report the sit-down sessions.
The other three candidates on the president’s apparent short list are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Merrick Garland of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sidney Thomas.
It isn’t certain whether there may be other candidates as well who have been interviewed in person, the AP notes.
Kagan is said to be a likelier selection than Wood, who is viewed by conservatives as too liberal on issues such as abortion and immigration, as an earlier ABAJournal.com post explains.
However, this is the second time that Obama has brought Wood in for interviews and he reportedly was impressed by her when he spoke with her as a potential candidate for the seat to which he nominated Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
In additional to serving as a judge on the 7th Circuit appeals court, Wood also is an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Law School.
