Legal Commentary

More Speculation on Souter Replacements

By Jeralyn

The AP now has this list of potential replacement candidates for Justice Souter.

President Obama's vetting team has been at this for a while. I doubt he'll feel pressured to nominate someone acceptable to conservatives, particularly with Arlen Specter and (hopefully)Al Franken joining the Dems in the Senate before a vote is scheduled. Whoever he picks is probably a lock.

If he is looking for a "consensus nominee", as I wrote several times in 2005 when Bush was doing the picking, 5th Circuit Judge Ed Prado would be an excellent choice. Initially appointed to the federal bench by Reagan, and to the 5th Circuit by Bush, he's also been a long-time opponent of mandatory minimum sentences, as I wrote here in 2003. Prior to becoming a judge, he was both a district attorney, U.S. Attorney and Public Defender. The "Draft Prado" website is no longer accessible, but who knows, maybe it will be back.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 01, 2009 (boomark / email).