Women, Hispanics, and Senators

(Hat tip: Professor Bainbridge)

Manuel Miranda, writing in The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal, speculates that possible replacements for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor fall into 3 categories - women, Hispanics, and Senators:

... The overriding challenge for the president is to rid us of the stigma of the Bork nomination, which produced a Republican stealth nominee like David Souter, by naming someone with a precise record, the kind of record William Rehnquist had in 1986.

This high goal is not imperiled by the political desire the president may have to name either a woman or a Hispanic. These are the categories to which the president is likely to limit his new short list. The White House may also look at senators; an option that previous presidents have taken when they wanted a smooth Senate confirmation of a solid nominee. Since the president invited it, let's speculate on these.

The women

• Edith Jones. A Texan who has sat on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for 20 years, Judge Jones has a deep judicial record that compares well to Rehnquist's. Unlike many nominees, she has the real affection of many conservative leaders.

• Priscilla Owen. A Texan who joined the Fifth Circuit earlier this year as part of the filibuster compromise, Judge Owen has more appellate experience than past Supreme Court nominees, but having served on a state supreme court with limited jurisdiction, she has written on few hot-button issues. She has the attributes of wide name recognition as the subject of three years of Democrat obstruction, and she is well known in the White House. Karl Rove ran her campaign for election to the Texas Supreme Court.

• Janice Rogers Brown. Judge Brown joined the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia as part of the filibuster compromise. Her principled writings over nearly a decade as a California Supreme Court justice have made her a hero to conservatives, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court's unpopular decision in Kelo v. New London on taking of private property, a topic upon which she has famously opined. The White House would score several points by nominating a brilliant, eloquent and charming black woman raised in the Deep South.

• Maura Corrigan. Now on the Michigan Supreme Court, she was popularly elected three times, first to the appeals court where she served as chief judge and then to the state high court. She has 13 years' appellate experience and is a widow with two grown children. It would be hard for Democrats to oppose a popular judge from a swing blue state.

The Hispanics

• Emilio Garza. A Texan of Mexican descent who has served since 1991 on the Fifth Circuit, Judge Garza has all the attributes and clear judicial record for which conservatives are looking. Judge Garza has the additional gift of being friendly, affable and gracious.

• Danny Boggs. A 19-year veteran of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and currently its chief judge, the Cuban-born Judge Boggs has a deep judicial record and an overwhelming intellect.

• Raoul Cantero. The first Hispanic on the Florida Supreme Court was vetted for that post by the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush. Justice Cantero's record is not deep, but it is principled and he would meet another conservative goal of seating the court with young jurists. Justice Cantero is 45.

The senators

• Jeff Sessions. The second-term Alabama senator is one of the Senate's brightest and most endearing personalities. In 1986 the then-U.S. attorney was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee when President Reagan nominated him to be a federal district judge. He went on to become Alabama's attorney general before being elected in 1996 to replace one of the men who voted against him, Democrat Howell Heflin. He now sits on the Judiciary Committee alongside several other erstwhile opponents, including Chairman Arlen Specter.

• John Cornyn. The Texas freshman, elected in 2002, has served as state attorney general and a Texas Supreme Court justice. In the Senate he has carved out a place as a constitutional scholar and a principled thinker. Mr. Cornyn's nomination would allow the Texas governor to appoint Rep. Henry Bonilla to the Senate.

• Mel Martinez. Florida's recently elected senator has no judicial record but wide experience as the secretary of housing and urban development and mayor of Orlando. He is a devout Catholic with a remarkable personal story and is Hispanic.

My Comments:
With the exception of Maura Corrigan and Mel Martinez (only because I know very little, if anything, about them), I would be quite pleased with any one of those possible nominees. Because of that, I have little doubt that Dubya will choose someone NOT on this list.