Who’s on Obama’s Supreme Court short list?

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s re-election – and the fact that four of the current nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are at or above the age of 74 – means that the president will likely appoint at least one more justice to the Court, perhaps as soon as next year.

As with his first two Supreme Court appointments, diversity will be a top priority for Obama, who has already made history by appointing the Court’s first Latina justice and placing a third woman on the bench. But this time, legal experts say, Obama may also seek out those who offer more professional diversity.

“It would be refreshing to look outside the ‘judicial monastery’” of federal appellate judges, said Caroline Fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society.

That means judges may share the list with current and former politicians as well as those who have represented individual plaintiffs.

The names that repeatedly came up in conversations with legal experts about who could be the next Supreme Court justice include:

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris. Veteran Supreme Court litigator and SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein placed Harris, 48, at the top of his list of probable Supreme Court picks, noting that she has “long been well known to the Administration, having been the first California elected official to endorse Barack Obama’s candidacy.” Harris, whose mother is from India and whose father is Jamaican-American, would be an especially appealing choice if a vacancy is created by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg because a female justice would preserve the Court’s ratio of men to women. Harris, for her part, has denied having an interest in being nominated.

9th Circuit Judge Paul J. Watford. Watford, 45, is deemed by Court watchers as a rising judicial star. The former federal prosecutor was also previously an appellate litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson, and his selection would mean the addition of a second black justice to the current Court. Watford was also a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But there are potential pitfalls to a Watford nomination, however, including his relatively short tenure on the 9th Circuit – he was confirmed only this year – and the possibility that Senate Republicans could try to filibuster his nomination.

D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick B. Garland. Garland, 60, a well-regarded federal appellate judge, would not bring the gender or ethnic diversity Obama may seek for the Court, but he has another appealing quality: a judicial record that is neither too controversial nor too liberal for Senate Republicans to quibble with. Also, the fact that Obama has already installed women and a minority group member on the Court could boost Garland’s chances this time around. He’s also well vetted – he has reportedly been on Obama’s short list since now retired Justice David Souter stepped down.

Other potential names on the president’s short list include Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler.