Scholars’ Supreme Court Short List Includes New Names
A dozen constitutional and U.S. Supreme Court scholars are backing some potential Supreme Court nominees that haven’t gotten much press attention.
When the National Law Journal asked for recommendations, some new names surfaced. They include: New York Law School professor and historian Annette Gordon-Reed, who won a Pulitzer Prize for a book exploring the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave; consumer rights advocate and Supreme Court litigator Alan Morrison; death penalty opponent Bryan Stevenson; and University of Notre Dame law dean Patricia O’Hara.
Most often mentioned was Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan, founder of the school’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, the National Law Journal says. Others most frequently mentioned were Kathleen Sullivan, the first female law dean of Stanford; Judge Diane Wood of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, the former law dean at Harvard. The names of Kagan and Wood have appeared on the rumored Obama short list. Sullivan and Karlan have also received frequent mentions.
Updated at 5:17 p.m. to correct that Annette Gordon-Reed is a professor at New York Law School.
