In the interview, the president, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago before coming to Washington, suggested that he prized real-world experience and a common touch as much as scholarly thought in seeking a successor to Justice David H. Souter, who is retiring.
“What I want is not just ivory tower learning,” Mr. Obama told Steve Scully, the C-Span political editor, who conducted the interview on Friday in the White House library. “I want somebody who has the intellectual firepower but also a little bit of a common touch and has a practical sense of how the world works.”
The court now consists entirely of former federal appeals court judges; one question is whether Mr. Obama, in seeking a balance, would try to pick someone with political experience as well. Several governors, including Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan, have been mentioned as possible candidates.
But Mr. Obama has kept a tight veil of secrecy around his selection process.(For remainder of article see comments below:)
dministration officials confirmed last week that he had formally interviewed at least two candidates.
ReplyDeleteOne is Judge Diane P. Wood of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in Chicago; the identity of the other, or others, was not disclosed.
There is widespread speculation that Mr. Obama will choose a nominee before his next overseas trip in early June. Mr. Obama told C-Span it was “safe to say that we’re going to have an announcement soon,” but was not specific.
He said he hoped to have hearings in July so that a nominee could be confirmed by the Senate with “a little bit of lead time” before the Supreme Court session begins in October.
“One of the things I would prefer not to see happen,” Mr. Obama said, “is that these confirmation hearings drag on and somebody has to hit the ground running and then take their seat in October without having the time to wrap their mind around the fact that they are going to be a Supreme Court justice.”
Mr. Obama declined to single out a justice as a model, though he did invoke a few names.
And he had kind words for a justice whose conservative philosophy is antithetical to his own: he praised Justice Antonin Scalia as a “terrific writer” who made “really interesting arguments.”
In discussing the quality of empathy, Mr. Obama often cites the case of Lilly Ledbetter, a former Goodyear Tire supervisor who sued her employer for discrimination but was denied back pay after the Supreme Court ruled she had failed to file her suit within the statute of limitations.
The president mentioned the case again in the interview, saying it was an example of how he wanted judges to understand the law as “a practical matter.”
Conservatives have viewed Mr. Obama’s remarks on the Ledbetter case and empathy as code for a liberal, activist judiciary with an antibusiness bent. Mr. Obama seemed to be trying to counter that criticism in the interview, saying his emphasis on practicality “might cut the other way,” since he wanted to nominate someone “who has a sense of how regulations might affect the businesses in a practical way.”
Among the other topics the interview touched on was the Obama family’s adjustment to Washington. He said the family did not dwell on the hopes Americans had pinned on them. “We think in terms of mom and dad and kids and now a dog,” he said, “and how do you make sure that your kids are doing their homework, brushing their teeth, treating each other nicely.”
Asked when he has time to think, Mr. Obama described himself as a “night owl” and said he often stayed up until midnight reading. Sometimes, he said, he will “push the stack aside and just try to do some writing,” to focus on issues “coming down the pike,” like cyber-security.
Mr. Obama also disclosed that he had spoken to his predecessor, George W. Bush, since taking office, but he declined to discuss their conversations.
Just four months in office, Mr. Obama did not seem ready to look beyond the presidency. Mr. Scully noted that William Howard Taft had served on the Supreme Court after his presidency and asked Mr. Obama if he would be interested in doing the same. He brushed it off with a laugh.
“You know,” Mr. Obama said, “I am not sure that I could get through Senate confirmation.”