Two California Latino judges emerge as candidates for Supreme Court

[usregimechange]

As the ever-morphing list of contenders for the U.S. Supreme Court caroms around the Internet, two California judges have emerged as serious candidates for the Obama administration — state Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw.

For San Jose, a Wardlaw nomination to Justice David Souter's soon-to-be-vacant seat would mark the story of a hometown girl who shot to the top. She graduated from Pioneer High School in 1972, voted "Best All Around" by her peers in the school yearbook.

Either Wardlaw or Moreno would become the first Latino justice on the Supreme Court if nominated. (Wardlaw's mother was Mexican-American.) And both received a push last week from Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, an influential Democrat on the judiciary committee who recommended Wardlaw and Moreno to the White House. Moreno also has received strong backing from Latino organizations.

But most experts believe Moreno is a long shot because of the push to fill Souter's seat with a woman on the high court, which currently only has one woman justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. There are also questions about whether the 60-year-old Moreno might be a bit too old for the lifetime appointment, given the recent trend to appoint younger justices. Meanwhile, the 54-year-old Wardlaw, now a Pasadena-based appeals court judge, has been on short lists for the Supreme Court for years. With a nomination expected within weeks, she is getting less buzz in Washington than other candidates such as Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appeals court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Dianne Wood.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_12387783

[Pab Sungenis]

1. Woman, man, latino, black, white, gay, straight, it doesn't matter.

I just want the BRIGHTEST person, the most LIBERAL person. and the YOUNGEST person possible for the job.