Obama Said to Have Met With High Court Candidate Wood

[usregimechange]

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama met with federal appeals court judge Diane Wood, a potential nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, an administration official said.

The president has consulted with every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee about his choice to replace retiring Justice David Souter, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Wood, a judge on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, was in Washington today attending a conference on judicial independence at Georgetown University’s law school. She told a reporter during a break that she was in Washington for that session and declined to say whether she had been to the White House.

Another candidate for the high court, U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, gave the conference’s opening remarks. She praised retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, one of the event’s sponsors, as someone who showed “enormous wisdom” while on the court.

A third potential nominee, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, was at the White House yesterday for an announcement of new standards for auto emissions and fuel mileage.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awxjMsDh1JxA&refer=home

[defendandprotect]

1. Considering the embarrassment of the recent GOP appointments . . .

and their extreme right-wing bent --

we should have a strong liberal/progressive female --

Why do I doubt that will happen?

[usregimechange]

2. As far as I have read only Karlan and Sullivan are as solidly progressive as Wood, so

she is one of the folks you might want to get excited about.

[Thrill]

4. Yup. Just a bit older.

I would like to get someone younger than Roberts.

[defendandprotect]

7. I started to study some of the mentioned names about two weeks ago . . .

but then something happened to take me off that subject . .

Of course, I'm looking for a clone of Rep. Barbara Jordan ....
And at least the rentry of the ABA into this decision making --
Clarence Thomas was so lowly rated -- besides being a pervert - that he
was an absolute embarrassment on any level. The only thing that bothered
Poppy Bush about Thomas was that the ABA was in the way and he got rid of
them!


However, I am impressed by Wood and think she'd fill the bill . . .
but notice this which the Repugs will be all over --
"Bingo" for them --

Doe is a tough one: It's about a convicted sex offender who cruised a park in Lafayette, Ind., admitting to "having urges" about a group of kids he saw there, although he didn't actually molest them. The city banned him from its parks. The district court upheld the ban based on his criminal record, his own deposition, and his psychologist's testimony that while she thought he'd learned to control himself, she couldn't guarantee he wouldn't offend again. The ruling Wood joined, and Williams wrote, defends the rights of what may be the most despised minority of all: pedophiles. But John Doe's thoughts took him right to the brink of harming real kids. Williams and Wood framed the case as being about Doe's freedom of thought and his right to some procedural protection. The other judges, who eventually overturned their ruling, framed it as being about his dangerousness. Which was it?

John Doe, as the court calls him, had a long history of sex offenses, most involving child victims. In 1978 and 1979, he forcibly had oral sex with a 10-year-old in the locker room of a school and with a 12-year-old in a school parking lot. He was arrested for masturbating in view of children in 1986; for peeping into the windows of an apartment in 1988; and for beckoning three boys to come into an alley, asking whether they wanted oral sex, and then unzipping his pants in front of them in 1990. He was on house arrest from 1992-96 and on probation until January 2000. He had no convictions on his record after 1991.

In January 2000, Doe's probation officer got a call reporting that Doe "had been 'cruising' parks and watching young children." Doe, in a deposition, explained that he parked his car across from Murdock Park and saw a group of kids on the baseball diamond. Doe says "I stood there and watched them for a while, probably 15 minutes, maybe a half-hour, I said to myself: I've got to get out of here before I do something, I left."

Pause there for a moment: Doe didn't hurt the kids or even approach them. He turned around and got out of the park. Then he paged his psychologist and told her he was upset.

Continues about half way down the page --
Quite a courageous decision by Wood --

http://www.slate.com/id/2217591/

Also quickly scanned this article --

http://electionlawblog.org/archives/013644.html

With all the talk about whom the President should nominate, there's been less focus on whom the president will nominate. You can look at the Intrade predictions market here, which reflects Judge Sotomayor in the lead, with SG Kagan, and Judges Wood and Wardlaw, behind. (My personal choice, Pam Karlan is trading prettly low, and Kathleen Sullivan, who also would make an excellent choice for the Court, barely registering---it is kind of strange how her name has dropped off so quickly.)

This paragraph reminds me of how our liberal candidates are always in the lead and then
suddenly can't be found and someone far more to the right is getting nominated!

Evidently, a lot of others to look at --
but I'm still not optimistic, especially about Wood actually getting it!

[Thrill]

3. Because its not likely these weakass Dems will stand up and get one confirmed

Heck, they can't even show the balls to get Dawn Johnsen confirmed

[ShadowLiberal]

6. More then that, we need a young liberal in their mid 40's or younger, not someone close to 60

Wood is just a year or two away from 60 years old, meanwhile some conservative judges like Clarance Thomas have been on the court for over 16 years, and he's only just now 60.

More then anything Obama should be trying to nominate a young very liberal judge who will be able to serve for a long while, and retire when a liberal president will be able to replace them.

[defendandprotect]

8. Agree . . .

I did have that reaction to Wood's age -- 59 . . .
I also think the nominee should be younger, but I'd go with the age if
I got the liberalism.


And the good think about a female is they get more liberal as they age, supposedly!

The opposite for males . . . so they say.

[AngryAmish]

5. You said wood

heh heh he

[Old Hank]

9. Nobody mentions Sotomayor anymore

She went from being the favorite to being one of the least likely picks.