WE Blog

It appears that President Obama will make his first Supreme Court nomination later this year, as Justice David Souter reportedly plans to retire. The retirement and appointment are unlikely to change the ideological makeup on the court, though you never can tell. A Tribune Media Services article noted:
“Souter’s career will go down in history as one of many justices who proved to be entirely different than what was forecast. When nominated by President George H.W. Bush, he was called a conservative who would vote on the right. John Sununu, Bush’s chief of staff, referred to him as a ‘home run for conservatives.’
“But soon after taking his seat in 1990, it became clear that the White House did not really know its own nominee. In 1992, Souter cast a key vote with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy to preserve Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion nationwide. And in the years afterward, he voted regularly with the court’s liberal bloc.”