Experts Predict Supreme Court Retirements and Likely Replacements
Former acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger is predicting that three liberal justices will retire from the U.S. Supreme Court if Barack Obama wins the election.
Speaking at a law school’s annual Supreme Court conference, Walter Dellinger predicted the retirement of Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg if Obama wins, and the retirement of none if John McCain is the winner, Legal Times reports.
The Supreme Court’s new term begins today.
Meanwhile, the Washington Post is publishing predictions on likely nominees by a President Obama or President McCain.
Supreme Court litigator Thomas Goldstein predicted Obama’s nominees, in order of likelihood, would be:
• Sonia Sotomayor of the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who would be the court’s first Hispanic justice.
• Diane Wood of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Harvard law dean Elena Kagan. (This one was also predicted by legal author Jeffrey Toobin. He also says Yale law dean Harold Koh is a possible pick.)
• Leah Ward Sears, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and an African-American.
• Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Former Reagan Justice Department lawyer Charles Cooper lists these possible McCain nominees:
• Former Solicitor General Paul Clement.
• Deborah Cook from the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Michael McConnell of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Diane Sykes of the 7th Circuit.
• Former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson.
