Souter's replacement - female, activist...and certainly liberal (OneNewsNow.com)

Souter's replacement - female, activist...and certainly liberal

Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - 5/4/2009 6:00:00 AM

U.S. Supreme Court small A Supreme Court analyst says President Obama's nominee to replace Justice David Souter will likely oppose the Second Amendment and support same-sex "marriage," partial-birth abortion, and racial preferences.

Liberal Justice David Souter, 69, announced last week that he is planning to retire at the end of the Supreme Court's current term. Souter, who was appointed by George H.W. Bush, has served on the high court since October 1990.

Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, says Souter will not be missed. But the justice's replacement, he cautions, may be even more liberal, based on what President Obama has said he is looking for in judges.

"[President Obama] has said that he's looking for a judicial activist," says Levey. "He didn't use that actual word. He said he's looking for a judge who shows empathy by favoring certain groups -- pregnant women, minorities, so on, and so forth. That is the definition of judicial activism -- outcome-oriented judging."

Curt Levey (Committee for Justice) Levey hopes Obama will pick a nominee based on their qualifications -- not their gender, race, or sexual orientation.

"I don't think it will be Hillary Clinton," he responds when asked. "It may certainly be Elena Kagan or Sonia Sotomayor [Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals], since he probably wants to appoint the first Hispanic justice. It could be Kathleen Sullivan, law professor and former dean at Stanford. It could be Diane Wood on the Seventh Circuit. I do think it will be a woman."

Levey notes that two of President Obama's potential picks -- current Solicitor General Elena Kagan and Kathleen Sullivan -- are open lesbians. Levey says people in red and purple states need to remind their senators that they want a judicial nominee who both supports their values and the rule of law.