Possible Supreme Court Nominees of President Bush

(2005)

This is one of the longest periods of stability, without a vacancy on the Court, in history. It has been nearly 10 years since the a justice stepped down - it has been 180 years since the court has gone this long with a new member.   The speculation also arises from the number of justices near what is generally thought of as retirement age Chief Justice William Rehnquist (78), Justice John Paul Stevens (82), and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (72). Justices Ginsburg, O'Connor, and Stevens have battled cancer, while Chief Justice Rehnquist is struggling with cancer. The more cynical political analysis posits that several of the Justices who were appointed by Republican presidents have awaited the return of the White House to G.O.P. hands before thinking of offering resignations.

The best predictor of the kinds of choices Bush would make for the US Supreme Court, though, is the direction he's taken with the Texas Supreme Court. Although Texas high-court judges (who hear only civil matters) are elected to office, the governor of Texas is responsible for filling vacancies when sitting justices step down. Bush has done this four times. His picks Deborah G. Hankinson, Greg Abbott, James A. Baker (no relation to the James Baker who served as President Bush's secretary of state), and Alberto R. Gonzales. These appointees come from mainstream conservative backgrounds. Like Bush, they present a happy, diverse image of conservatism. One of them, Gonzales, is Latino. Another, Abbott, gets around in a wheelchair. Hankinson is a woman. But make no mistake they come from big-business backgrounds and support efforts to limit plaintiffs' rights.

To be fair, some court observers and Bush watchers say that although the Bush judges are pro-business and pro-defendant, they are far more "moderate" than their more conservative predecessors. "His judges tend to be moderate-conservative judges," says Anthony Champagne, a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. "Bush has quite an impressive record when it comes to Texas. His appointees have been a moderating force on the Texas Supreme Court. They are pro-defense, but not extremely so. They tend to often be well regarded by people on both sides." Even Court Watch reported that "a contingent of four justices initially appointed by Gov. George W. Bush appear to be intent on eliminating the excesses of the GOP old guard elected between 1988 and 1994." Still, Texas conservatives understood that Bush's judges would follow the lead of those parked further to the right. During Abbott's 1998 election run, he raised money from business and defense interests under the "reform" banner. One of his fundraising letters reads "His election to a full six-year term is critical to continue the reform movement that has done so much to return balance, fairness, and impartiality to the Supreme Court."

By Seth Gittell

Possible Bush Nominees