(1 May 2009) HEADLINE: Obama wants Souter replacement with ’empathy’
CAPTION: With the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, President Barack Obama gets his first chance to make a mark on the court. Obama says he wants a replacement who has ’empathy’. (May 1)
[Notes: ANCHOR VOICE]
((Souter File))
Justice David Souter has decided to call it quits after 18 years on the Supreme Court.
The veteran member of the court’s liberal wing wants to go home to New Hampshire …
((Obama bounds in))
… and broke the news to President Barack Obama, who promptly interrupted the daily White House briefing to shower Souter with praise.
OBAMA: He approached judging as he approaches life, with a feverish work ethic. With integrity, equanimity and compassion.
((Court file footage))
So, just three months into his presidency, Obama gets to start putting his stamp on the nation’s highest court.
((Cutaways))
What’s he looking for in a nominee?
OBAMA: I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook, it is also about how our laws affect the daily reality of people’s lives.
((Standup bridge))
The expectation of course is the president will choose a moderate-to-liberal nominee to replace Souter. So the chances are the ideological balance of the closely divided High Court won’t change. But the selection COULD WELL change its gender balance.
((File footage Ginsburg over first sentence of Sherman SOT)
SHERMAN SOT: 10:39:55 "There’s a lot of thought that Obama will pick a woman. There’s only one on the court right now, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. So it’s considered quite likely he’ll pick a second woman to join her." FONT: Mark Sherman, AP Supreme Court reporter
((Stills graphic))
Topping the list is Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the former dean of Harvard Law School, and sitting judges like and Federal Appeals Court Judge Kim Wardlaw and Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah (LEE’-uh) Ward Sears.
((Granholm file – em 4983 dv Detroit mayor, em 7067 dv governor’s meeting))
One possibility from outside the legal world: Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
((Back to file of Souter))
Souter, at 69, is ONLY the fifth oldest justice.
((Stevens then Ginsburg))
Justice John Paul Stevens is 89, while Ginsburg, who’s 76, is battling pancreatic cancer.
((File Obama))
Obama could get to replace them both — though they, too, are liberals.
SHERMAN SOT: 10:41:43 If that were to happen, that would be three appointments, which again it wouldn’t necessarily shift the balance on the court. But it would allow Obama to really leave his stamp on the Supreme Court. (:10)
((File of Souter naming Bush?))
Then again the court’s balance can defy prediction, as it did when George H.W. Bush selected Souter thinking HE’D be getting a reliable conservative.
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