Scott Lemieux on how the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens provides a foothold for a strong liberal presence on the Court:
The pending resignation of Justice John Paul Stevens gives Barack Obama the chance to make his second appointment to the Supreme Court. It also represents what is likely to be his best chance to provide a foothold for a strong liberal presence on the Court to represent the reactionary foursome of Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito.
Here are three crucial reasons why Obama should nominate a sophisticated and tough-minded progressive along the lines of Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan, Legal Adviser of the Department of State Harold Koh, or Judge Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals …