Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates
During his final year in office, Obama had an opportunity to fill a third Supreme Court vacancy, following the February 13, 2016, death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
The problem I had is that when I examined Judge Roberts' record and history of public service, it is my personal estimation that he has far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak.
[12]Later in March 2008, while on the campaign trail in Ohio, Obama again addressed the traits he would look for in a Supreme Court justice, suggesting he might leaven legal scholarship with practical political experience.
[14]Instead, Obama mentioned then current justices David Souter and Stephen Breyer as examples of people he would like to nominate to the Supreme Court in the future: .
[W]hen I think about the kinds of judges who are needed today, it goes back to the point I was making about common sense and pragmatism as opposed to ideology.
[21] Given the relative youth of the most recent Republican appointments, it was also noted that Democrats had "a strong incentive to pick younger justices this time around".
[24] On May 26, 2009, Obama announced Second Circuit appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor as his choice to replace retiring Associate Justice David H.
[26] Long before the election of President Obama, Associate Justice David H. Souter had expressed a desire to leave Washington, D.C., and return to his native New Hampshire.
[27] As a result, in mid-April 2009 he privately notified the White House of his intent to retire from the Supreme Court at the conclusion of its business for that term.
[29] Within a week of Souter's announcement the White House had formalized its short list of candidates to replace Souter, with Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Second Circuit, Judge Diane Pamela Wood of the Seventh Circuit, and Solicitor General Elena Kagan reportedly leading contenders for the nomination.
[30] Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm were also reportedly on the short list of candidates under serious consideration by the White House.
Jennifer Granholm attended a CAFE standards meeting at the White House on May 19 and spoke with Obama, but officials would not comment on whether the two discussed a potential court appointment.
[34] On May 20, Diane Wood and Elena Kagan attended a conference on judicial independence at Georgetown University hosted by retired Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
[37] Obama announced the nomination the next morning in the East Room of the White House in a press conference alongside Sotomayor and Joe Biden.
[1] On May 10, 2010, Obama nominated Elena Kagan, the Solicitor General of the United States, to replace retiring Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.
[38] On April 9, 2010, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens announced that he would retire at the conclusion of the Supreme Court's term in June 2010.
[39] This announcement had been widely anticipated since September 2009 when Stevens confirmed that he had hired only a single law clerk for the Supreme Court term beginning in October 2010.
[39] The leading contenders to replace Stevens were said to include Seventh Circuit Judge Diane Pamela Wood and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, both of whom had been interviewed for the David Souter vacancy, and D.C.
[39] Others mentioned include Ninth Circuit Judge Sidney Runyan Thomas, former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
[43][44] On April 29, 2010, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden each met separately with Sidney Thomas at the White House to discuss the vacancy.
[46] On March 16, 2016, Obama nominated Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to replace Antonin Scalia.
[48] The 11 members were Committee Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa,[49] Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee of Utah, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas, Jeff Flake of Arizona, David Vitter of Louisiana, David Perdue of Georgia, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
[50] On February 13, 2016, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead while vacationing at Cibolo Creek Ranch near Marfa, Texas.
