The Souter Retirement

The announcement yesterday at Justice David Souter is retiring shouldn't surprise anyone. It had been expected that he would retire at some point during President Obama's term.

This just provides an early glimpse in to Obama's choice and direction for the Supreme Court. Expect him to replace Souter with another liberal on the court.

In other words, don't expect the court's direction to change. Souter was already on the liberal side of the court and his retirement doesn't change that calculus.

Neither the Supreme Court nor the White House would confirm the likely opening on the bench. "The president has not received a formal communication from Justice Souter, who deserves the right to make his own announcement," a White House aide said Friday.

Souter's retirement is unlikely to alter the ideological balance on the closely divided court because Obama is almost certain to replace the liberal-leaning justice with someone with similar views.

But the vacancy could lead to another woman on the bench to join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, currently the court's only woman.

Souter has indicated in the past that he wanted to leave Washington and return to his native New Hampshire.

At 69, Souter is much younger than either Ginsburg, 76, or Justice John Paul Stevens, 89, the other two liberal justices whose names have been mentioned as possible retirees. Yet those justices have given no indication they intend to retire soon and Ginsburg said she plans to serve into her 80s despite her recent surgery for pancreatic cancer.

Even should Ginsberg or Stevens retire, the ideological split on the bench wouldn't change. It would take the retirement of Anthony Kennedy or something unexpected from Antonin Scalia,
Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice Roberts, or Sam Alito in order for the balance of the court to tip to the left. Right now, Kennedy is the swing vote on most issues.

MSNBC also floats possible choices for Souter's replacement:

The Associated Press reported that potential replacements include recently confirmed Solicitor General Elena Kagan; U.S. Appeals Court Judges Sonya Sotomayor, Kim McLane Wardlaw, Sandra Lea Lynch and Diane Pamela Wood; and Leah Ward Sears, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. The AP said men who have been mentioned as potential nominees include Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein and U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo of Chicago.

Sotomayor is a 2d Circuit Justice and she enjoys the support of Sen. Chuck Schumer and others as a possible replacement.

It will be interesting to see how the Obama Administration vets candidates given all their woes in handling the nomination process for all the other positions in government (including all those that remain unfilled, including Surgeon General and those at the Department of Treasury), to say nothing of the ethical, legal, and tax woes that have followed many of those nominees who actually were supposedly vetted.

UPDATE:
President Obama wants to find someone with an "independent" mind. That's his prerogative as President of the US, but that does not exactly warm the cockles of my heart given that independent means that whoever he selects will likely consider the US Constitution to be a living and breathing document that can be suitably altered to suit the political needs of those in charge. It means that those GOPers questioning the prospective nominees must ask questions about whether the nominee seeks economic justice on a variety of issues, even where the legislative branch has ruled to not allow such things (think slave reparations and economic redistribution).

Souter will retire at the end of the session, which means that this summer will be entertaining for those covering the Court and the nomination process.

It's also curious how many people expect Souter's replacement will be a woman. Why a woman? Why not the best qualified for the job? As noted in both the comments and above, there are distinguished jurists who could be nominated - the candidates' gender (or race or religion) shouldn't be a factor. Their legal qualifications should be paramount.