With Justice John Paul Stevens retiring from the Supreme Court shortly, President Barack Obama will choose the second justice in his short tenure. Obama knocked it out of the park with his first choice, Sonia Sotomayor. Obama was able to add a woman and the first Latino to the court. Both were desperately needed.

Obama has said he wants a candidate with Stevens' independence, which means he is looking to replace the justice with another relatively liberal candidate. Republicans, however, say they have enough votes to filibuster objectionable candidates, meaning super liberals might be in for a fight.

At the same time, Republicans must balance the potential negatives of waging an ideological battle against President Obama's nominee after their divisive fight against health care and before the upcoming midterm elections.

One interesting pick, according to Jake Tapper at ABC, would be former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears (pictured above). Sears would be the first African-American woman to sit on the court. An expert in family law, Sears is a member of the left-leaning American Constitution Society but is also a friend of conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, Tapper writes.

In addition to preserving the ideological bend of the court, Sears' nomination would represent a huge step for African-American women. Another name being considered is federal appeals court judge Sidney Thomas of Montana. Obama is expected to move quickly to name a nominee.

The importance of the court's ideological leanings are evident in cases such as the recent decision to allow corporations to spend freely to influence elections. Obama brazenly criticized the decision, and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito also showed his discontent with Obama's criticism.

Now, according to the Associated Press, several potential candidates are emerging as possible Stevens successors. Here are some of the candidates:

Merrick B. Garland is currently a Judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who was nominated by President Bill Clinton. A Harvard law graduate, Garland clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan in 1978–79 before entering government service as a special assistant U.S. attorney general. He is respected by conservative and liberal experts following his management of the investigation of the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building and subsequent prosecution of bomber Timothy McVeigh. Moderate legal positions would not likely lead to filibuster threats from Republican senators.


Jennifer Granholm is currently the governor of Michigan. She earned her law degree from Harvard University in 1987 and broke in to the political world as a full-time aide for the Michigan campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988 and has served as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office and as Michigan attorney general. She would bring nonjudicial experience to the Supreme Court, which several senators say is needed.


Elena Kagan is the U.S. solicitor general. The Harvard Law graduate worked as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. She is respected by conservative and liberal lawyers and is already known as the "Tenth Justice" because the solicitor general is the executive branch's chief lawyer before the high court. Kagan has no judicial experience and has elicited a strong response from Republicans in the past. Thirty-one Republicans voted against her for solicitor general. Republicans refused to hold a hearing for her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1999, a seat that went to John Roberts, now chief justice of the Supreme Court.


Harold Hongju Koh is the legal adviser to the State Department. A Harvard Law grad, Koh became Yale's law school dean in 2001. Koh would make history as the first Asian-American Supreme Court nominee and would excite hard-core liberals looking to swing the courts to the left. Koh has no judicial experience and his liberal leanings may spark a Republican filibuster.


Janet Napolitano is the homeland security secretary. She clerked for Mary Schroeder at 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco and has served as both Arizona attorney general, U.S. attorney for Arizona and Arizona governor. Napolitano was a finalist in the White House's last search for a nominee and was interviewed by the president. She would bring political and prosecutorial experience to the high court. She has no judicial experience and would face tough questions about her comment that "the system worked" after the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.


Deval Patrick is currently the governor of Massachusetts. He earned a law degree from Harvard in 1982 and was a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1983 to 1986 before serving as Clinton administration's assistant attorney general for civil rights and leading a federal investigation of church burnings throughout the South. Patrick is a personal friend of Obama and would increase the number of black justices to two. He would also bring political and prosecutorial experience to the high court. Patrick has no judicial experience and would face questions about the political and financial status of Massachusetts, which has a statewide health care plan similar to the nationwide plan just passed by Congress and signed in to law by Obama.


Diane Pamela Wood is currently a judge on 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun from 1976-1977. Wood was a finalist in the White House's last search for a nominee and was interviewed by the president. She would bring the number of female justices to three but would also ignite a battle over abortion rights during the confirmation process.