Huffington Post compiled a list of potential replacements for Justice John Paul Stevens from "a host of constitutional law professors and other legal cognoscenti" in the likely event of his retiring soon. Every single one of the nine suggestions is white.
This isn't the kind of oversight you'd expect from a liberal publication, especially considering the number of talented candidates who don't happen to be white who were mentioned as possible picks last time around. Just a few off the top of my head: Kim Wardlaw, Leah Ward Sears, Harold Koh -- the right is currently freaking out about a possible Goodwin Liu nomination in the event that he's confirmed to the federal bench. From the administration's point of view, you can imagine them being drawn to a white candidate in order to preempt the inevitable "Obama hates white people" attack this time around, but I'm guessing a bunch of con law professors aren't going to be thinking that way.
It's good to see so many women on that list, but are we really operating from an unacknowledged assumption that now that we have Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas on the court, the appropriate number of minority boxes have been checked?
-- A. Serwer
