Judge Diane Wood Visits D.C.

by: Chris Bowers

Wed May 20, 2009 at 12:56



Here is some big Supreme Court news, as compiled by Jan Crawford Greenberg at ABC

Just two days after Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's sudden appearance in Washington set off a flurry of speculation about Supreme Court interviews, here's something that actually could be significant:

Federal Appears Court Judge Diane Wood, one of the leading contenders to replace David Souter, is in Washington today. The highly regarded Wood is here, ostensibly, to attend a legal conference at Georgetown. But the timing is curious, and here's why.

According to a student, she didn't teach her first-year civil procedure class at the University of Chicago Law School yesterday afternoon and provided no advance notice or explanation. That's apparently because she was flying to DC-to attend the long-scheduled judicial conference, even though she is not on the program as a panelist or participant.

You know what I think about Gov. Granholm's odds of becoming Obama's pick. But Diane Wood is another story.  She is among the top three prospects Obama is considering, along with Judge Sonia Sotomayor and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, sources tell me. Like those two, she's filled out the exhaustive questionnaire and undergone the intensive vetting and FBI background check. There's one thing left: the crucial interview with the President.

Wood specializes in trade and anti-trust law. In addition to being a working mother, one of the things I like about her is that she went to the University of Texas for her undergraduate degree. As I wrote three weeks ago, specifically mentioning Wood, why not someone who didn't attend an elite undergraduate university?

Wood teaches at the University of Chicago, and actually knows President Obama. That makes her a very, very safe pick for the President, and he usually turns to safe picks. She talso urns 59 on the fourth of July, which adds a nice bit of Americana to the pick. With the nomination hearings expected this summer, that might actually be a helpful boost.
Chris Bowers :: Judge Diane Wood Visits D.C.

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Judge Diane Wood Visits D.C. | 22 comments
re (0.00 / 0)
[t]urns 59 on the fourth of July, which adds a nice bit of Americana to the pick.

Can you elaborate a bit?

With the nomination hearings expected this summer, that might actually be a helpful boost.

Do we really care about the nomination hearings? We got 60 votes (with Franken).

Yes, 60 votes has been magical (4.00 / 2)
All of President Obama's legislation has passed magically now that wehave 60 votes.
[ Parent ]
ok, change it to 'we have the votes' (4.00 / 1)
all I mean is 'do we really have to worry about the votes?'

All of President Obama's legislation has passed magically now that wehave 60 votes.

I didn't claim it has. Not all legislation/confirmation is the same

[ Parent ]
The Republicans have been building for a filibuster for weeks now. (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
they want to filibuster? let them filibuster (0.00 / 0)
if the filibuster isn't successful then we're done

if the filibuster is successful then we can nominate another one

my point is why be worried what the Reps will do now that we have ~60 votes

[ Parent ]
No I agree. I want to9 wear them out and make them look foolish. (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
We have a new DLC run government.. (0.00 / 0)
No wonder we're all in shock.
The Democrats are now totally compromised..wussie.   Harry's olde time Senate Democrats still can't function with 59, the other wusses are trying to dump Pelosi and are falling all over each other with reversals and flip flops, ass kissing and brown nosing and just all around amusing behavior typical of headless chickens.

All bets are off next election.  And I can't bear the thought of what they'll do to Souter's seat -it will not be pretty.

Some didn't think it possible but Harry Reid can't suck worse than he already did and the other Dems, those Bank loving Dems which include all the pro-war hard-liners Democrats  are now running the Senate, keeping Harry as their ML and trying mightily to mount a coup in the House too and install their hand puppet pal Steny Hoyer as Speaker.

We should have elected Nancy Pelosi- she's the one solid Democratleft with any cajones.

Nationalism is not the same thing as terrorism, and an adversary is not the same thing as an enemy.

[ Parent ]
Does it really matter that she was born on July 4th? (0.00 / 0)
If the vote of one senator, or another, is swayed by that fact, then our system is well-beyond broken. We might as well pick Supreme Court Judges by lottery.


"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."
[ Parent ]
Honestly ... (0.00 / 0)
... Bush's selling of Roberts in the primetime speech as a humble son of Indiana (as opposed to a Beltway regular and Meese acolyte) helped set the tone for what followed.
[ Parent ]
Yeah, but that's about family, at least. (0.00 / 0)
Now, if she were CONCIEVED on the Fourth of July it might make some kind of half-assed logic to try and paint her family as uber-patriots.

Besides, citing a Bush Inc. tactic as a defense of why one's date of birth has any relevance whatsoever on the question of qualification to be a supreme court justice is just about the weakest argument you can make.

I mean, Bush lied to get the US populace to support the invasion of Iraq and the "surge". Those lies certainly "set the tone" of the debate, too. So, would you suggest Obama adopt similar tactics to garner support for the new "surge" in Afghanistan?


"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

[ Parent ]
Hey hey, the original reference was light, a mere observation (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
explanation please? (0.00 / 0)
[t]urns 59 on the fourth of July, which adds a nice bit of Americana to the pick.

I don't get it. What do you mean?

[ Parent ]
I understand him to mean. A light observation about a patriotic date (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
thanks (4.00 / 1)
Not making a point. I just couldn't understand what he meant and asked for an explanation.
[ Parent ]
oh good OK (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
Don't you just love .. (0.00 / 0)
how stupid the TradMed is ... assuming Granholm was on the shortlist ... when really .. she was in DC for the car mileage stuff(She is the Michigan Governor you TradMed idjits!!) ... if it's not Sotomayor, Kagan or Wood .. I'll be surprised
She's the pick, I'd bet (4.00 / 1)
Not only is she friends with O, she's practically a white female version of him, a moderate consensus-building incrementalist known for her intellect who gets along well with conservatives. That's the bad news, The good news is that her record suggests she might be strong on anti-trust issues, especially compared to the so-called liberals on the court now.
I would love a look at her record on anti-trust. (0.00 / 0)
[ Parent ]
I have mixed feelings about her (0.00 / 0)
primarily over her age. But I'm sure Team O will look at her medical records before nominating her.

Liberal but knows how to convince people, a more talented version of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. If she clears the medical and age tests she'd be a very good pick but in this day and age that kind of stuff is important.

Karlan remains my favored choice but I think she's a longshot. Maybe for Appeals.  

John McCain: Beacuse lobbyists should have more power

I want two justices: one, to articulate a strong progressive vision of where the Court should be (0.00 / 0)
-- someone who will be writing a lot of dissenting and concurring opinions -- and a second, who is specifically chosen for the ability to persuade Justice Kennedy, and who writes a lot of majority opinions.

I thought that Bush was going for this when he nominated Roberts; I thought from all the spin about his persona that he was intended to go to the court and seduce Kennedy.  But evidently he was just another doctrinaire conservative, and the spin was just for political consumption.  I was kindof disappointed that the game was that unsubtle, actually, though delighted of course that Roberts doesn't seem to be influencing Kennedy all that much.

[ Parent ]
One advanage of a nominee (0.00 / 0)
who specializes in anti-trust is that she will not have much of a paper trail on the emotional issues (eg Roe v Wade).

It would be a significant advantage for her.

But she is too old.

Agree... (4.00 / 1)
TOO OLD! No way we can let the young GOP nominees like Alito and Roberts get on and then put a soon-to-be 60 year old up there! Hell Thomas is only 60!
[ Parent ]
Judge Diane Wood Visits D.C. | 22 comments
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