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Obama to announce Supreme Court pick

By Laura Clawson
Wednesday Mar 16, 2016 · 6:50 AM CST

President Obama will announce on Wednesday morning his nominee to fill the empty Supreme Court seat left by Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death last month. He had reportedly narrowed his list to three candidates: Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Sri Srinivasan, a judge on the same court; and Paul Watford, a judge on the California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

“It is both my constitutional duty to nominate a Justice and one of the most important decisions that I—or any president—will make,” Obama said in an email previewing the announcement. In that email, Obama laid out three principles underlying his choice:

First, a Justice should possess an independent mind, unimpeachable credentials, and an unquestionable mastery of law. [...]

Second, a Justice should recognize the limits of the judiciary’s role. With a commitment to impartial justice rather than any particular ideology, the next Supreme Court Justice will understand that the job is to interpret the law, not make law.

However, I know there will be cases before the Supreme Court in which the law is not clear. In those cases, a Justice’s analysis will necessarily be shaped by his or her own perspective, ethics, and judgment.

Therefore, the third quality I looked for in a judge is a keen understanding that justice is not about abstract legal theory, nor some footnote in a dusty casebook. It’s the kind of life experience earned outside the classroom and the courtroom; experience that suggests he or she views the law not only as an intellectual exercise, but also grasps the way it affects the daily reality of people’s lives in a big, complicated democracy, and in rapidly-changing times.

This move—any move Obama could possibly have made, beyond capitulation—will doubtless kick off a new round of Republican screeching, because as they’ve made clear, it’s about obstruction, not about actually considering possible justices on the merits.

Wednesday, Mar 16, 2016 · 9:16:09 AM CST · Laura Clawson

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/16/1502140/-Obama-to-announce-Supreme-Court-pick