Naming a New Justice

There are a few truths to winning a presidential election. One of these truths is the winner has the opportunity to select appointments to the Supreme Court. So as Justice Souter is retiring, President Obama will have the opportunity to nominate his replacement.

Many on the right are concerned that this will be a radical individual who will lean heavily to the left. I am not sure who the nominee will be, but if that individual is heavily Liberal, then it is Mr. Obama’s constitutional right to be allowed to nominate that individual.

With that said, I would like to see two things from President Obama in making his selection. First, avoid the Ivy League. I know the president is an Ivy Leaguer; however, so are all the justices except for John Paul Stevens. Actually, except for Justice Stevens, the other eight all come from Harvard, Yale or Columbia. And they blame us in the oil field as being to Old-Boy Network.

Second, I would like to see the new nominee come from somewhere other than the federal judiciary. All of the current members have come from the Federal Judiciary. Now is the time to get someone who comes from a state court, or a district court, or Private practice. Someone like my Grandfather who graduated from Emory and was a state circuit court judge in Georgia.

What the court needs is Common Sense and Real World Experience instead of the partisanship that has been so prevalent in the past. President Obama has the chance to make his first nomination, will he start to make a change in the federal way of thinking or will he give us someone with a background similar to what we already have?

ALL RISE,
Bill