Potential Bush administration nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States

Speculation has abounded over some Potential Bush administration nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States, spurred by the deterioration in Chief Justice William Rehnquist's health and the age of several other justices.

Throughout much of the history of the United States, the Supreme Court of the United States was clearly the least powerful branch of the government, and nominations to that body, although important, were not the source of great political controversy as they are today. The current composition of the Supreme Court has remained unchanged since 1994, the second longest time period without a membership change in U.S. history.

When asked about the kind of justices he would appoint to the Supreme Court, President George W. Bush responded: "I would pick people that would be strict constructionists. We've got plenty of lawmakers in Washington, D.C. Legislators make law. Judges interpret the Constitution. ... And that's the kind of judge I'm going to put on there."

The Republican-controlled Senate has threatened to invoke what Senator Trent Lott termed the "nuclear option" to confirm Bush's nominees to the bench over the filibuster by the Democrats – a scenario that Bush would likely prefer to avoid. However, it is unlikely that Democrats will object too stridently if Bush replaces a particularly conservative Justice (such as Rehnquist) with someone who is equally or less conservative.

Following is a list of potential nominees that have been mentioned in various news accounts as the Bush administration's most likely potential nominees:

1. Samuel A. Alito, Jr. – 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals – 2,3
2. Janice Rogers Brown – California Supreme Court – 3,4
3. Frank Easterbrook – 7th Circuit Court of Appeals – 5, 6
4. Miguel Estrada – Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia nominee – 3
5. Emilio Miller Garza – 5th Circuit Court of Appeals 4
6. Alberto R. Gonzales – Attorney General  – 3
7. Edith Jones – 5th Circuit Court of Appeals – 3
8. Jon Kyl – Republican senator from Arizona – 4
9. J. Michael Luttig – 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – 1,2,3,4
10. Theodore B. Olson – Former Solicitor General – 3, 4
11. Richard Posner – 7th Circuit Court of Appeals – 5, 6
12. John G. Roberts – Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia – 3, 4
13. Larry Thompson – General Counsel for PepsiCo – 3
14. J. Harvie Wilkinson III – 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – 1,2,3,4

References

1. Green, Frank (22 November 2004). 4th Circuit's Luttig said potential high-court pick. Times-Dispatch.
2. Woellert, Lorraine (22 November 2004) What The New Court Will Look Like. Business Week.
3. www.cleveland.com/news Article on "Potential Supreme Court Nominees"
4. High Court Prospects Emerging
5. CNN discussion
6. Possible Bush Nominees