Supreme Court Justice Souter retires, Obama to choose replacement

There is speculation as to whom Obama will choose.

By Victoria Guida

Published May 8, 2009

With Supreme Court Justice David Souter's recently announced retirement, President Obama has the opportunity to nominate a new justice.

Souter, 69, served on the court since President George H. W. Bush appointed him in 1990 and he is retiring to his home in New Hampshire.

It now falls on Obama to make an appointment. Once he has done this, the nomination will move to the U.S. Senate where confirmation hearings will be held in either June or July and finally, the Senate will vote on whether to confirm the nomination.

MU professor of Constitutional Law Douglas Abrams said it is important that a confirmation occurs before the court's new term in October because with only eight justices there is a risk of a tie vote.

Abrams said the new nominee could be anyone.

"In many or most cases, the nominee was not on a short list," Abrams said. "There has been a recent tradition to nominate someone who has been a Federal Appeals justice, but there have been some that have had no prior judicial experience before, we've never had a non-lawyer before, but it is not a constitutional requirement that the person has served as a judge before going on the court."

MU College Democrats President Brian Roach also said it was possible that Obama's nominee will have had no prior experience as a judge.

"He can pick someone who has a lot of on the bench experience and has that kind of world view," Roach said. "His second option, which I think is probably the one he personally would rather go with, is a judge with more practical experience, someone who was potentially a former lawmaker, a former governor or senator, who would bring a different perspective to the court than we have now."

Abrams said Souter himself was somewhat of a surprise nomination.

"I remember when Souter was nominated, he was known as the stealth candidate," Abrams said. "He hadn't been on the federal bench barely at all, at least enough to leave a record."

In a press conference, President Barack Obama said he promised to nominate an independent. MU College Republicans Chairman Brett Dinkins said he doesn't expect the nominee to be a moderate.

"I think it's going to be someone very liberal-leaning," Dinkins said. "With Justice Souter leaving as a conservative member, everybody's been wondering who his pick is going to be, and I expect to see someone who is going to be liberal on the issue of traditional marriage because Obama has said he's for civil union, and that's the big issue going on in the court system."

Dinkins said he would not be surprised if the nominee was a minority.

"Right now it seems to be all guessing, but some people are expecting to see a minority, whether it be a Hispanic woman or some other minority," he said.

Many have different theories on who the nominee could be.

"You can speculate like anybody else can, but time will tell and people will stay tuned," Abrams said.