Justice Souter's Legacy Expected To Be 'Limited,' Obama Might Consider Stronger Liberal Voices, NYT Reports

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 12 May 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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There is a consensus among many legal experts that the lasting influence of Supreme Court Justice David Souter's court decisions "is likely to be limited" after his retirement later this year, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, if Souter had turned out to be the conservative that Republicans had expected when he joined the court in 1990, "scores of important 5-to-4 decisions in the last two decades would have flipped the other way, and a solid conservative majority would have fundamentally reshaped the court's docket." One such decision was Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which Souter joined Justices Anthony Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor in writing a majority opinion reaffirming Roe v. Wade, the Times reports.

In selecting a nominee, President Obama is expected to choose a liberal, though he might also "consider Justice Souter as a kind of counterexample and choose a bigger and bolder figure, one who sets agendas, forges consensus and has a long-term vision about how to shape the law," according to the Times. Abner Mikva, a former federal judge who served on the faculty of the University of Chicago with President Obama, said that Justice Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg "are good justices, but they can't lead. They can't bring people with them." He added that Souter's replacement "has got to be someone who can persuade Kennedy," who is considered a swing vote, "and maybe even" Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative. The Times reports that if Obama intends to pick a strong liberal consensus-builder, he might need to look beyond the lower courts, which currently consist mainly of Republican-appointed judges and moderates appointed by former President Clinton. Two possibilities that have been mentioned include Kathleen Sullivan and Pamela Karlan, both professors at Stanford Law School (Liptak, New York Times, 5/8).

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