Dueling interests fight for Supreme Court post

I have not made it a secret that I would enjoy the thought of a Latino receiving the job-for-life that is an appointment to the Supreme Court of the United States.

It seems like something that is long overdue, and would help enhance the high court’s perception of many differing issues. But I also am realistic enough to know that there is a good chance that whoever does wind up getting President Barack Obama’s pick to be on the court in coming weeks will not be someone whose ethnic origins go back to a Latin American nation.

THE SIMPLE FACT is that there are many differing interests that would like to see one of their own, and there is a degree to which Latinos are in competition with other groups to see which one will be able to claim the eventual Supreme Court nominee as one of their own.

Women wouldn’t mind seeing one of their own on the court, citing the fact that only one female justice exists presently – and there are those who wonder how much longer her health will permit Ruth Bader Ginsburg to serve.

There also are those who think that the many justices with ties to the University of Chicago or to the courts of Chicago will be in line for a Supreme Court appointment.

I honestly believe Obama is inclined to want to get all three of these “groups” onto the high court eventually.

SO IT IS possible that a Latino will be beat out by a Chicagoan or a female? It could happen. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if that is the outcome – although I’m not sure which of those two groups will prevail.

The ideal situation for Obama would be to have at least two more vacancies on the high court come up during his time as president. If Obama were to get at least three picks, he’d be able to satisfy many differing groups.

But while there always is a chance that he will get that many choices, there’s also the chance that he won’t. We’re going to see people like Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia hanging onto their posts until the day they draw their final breaths (while trying to concoct some scheme that would allow them to continue on the court from the hereafter).

There’s always the chance that the retirement of Justice David Souter willl be Obama’s only chance at having a legacy-building Supreme Court appointment.

SO WHAT SHOULD Obama do?

There will be an attempt to pick someone who can fall into at least two of the three categories. That is why Sonia Sotomayor got her name put atop the Latino picks by amateur political prognosticators.

There also are those who think that Diane Wood, an appeals court justice based in Chicago, is also a person who ought to rank near the top of the list of picks.

I always wondered if Ruben Castillo would get some extra consideration because he’s a Chicago-based U.S. district judge who is of Mexican ethnic background.

IT’S TOO BAD that we can’t find a credible pick of a Latina from Chicago, because that would allow all three factions to feel like they got someone representing their interests with this one pick.

But regardless of who Obama picks (and the fact that he has named an aide who will preside over the selection process to ensure that whomever the president nominates will ultimately be confirmed by the Senate), what is most important is that we not think purely in terms of one appointment.

Even if Obama ultimately decides that the interests in having a Latino on the high court should be put above those of any other group this time around, it would not mean satisfaction for those people who want increased political empowerment for the growing Latino population.

Because only having one of nine justices who can have a first-hand identification with Latinos (who themselves are not a homogeneous population) would reek of picking a token Latino.

IT WOULD MAKE it seem like there’s some limit, which is almost what it seems has become for African-Americans these days. The real interesting situation will be if Obama is ever put in a position where he gets to pick a replacement for Thomas – whose time on the court has lasted nearly two full decades.

What we really want on the high court are justices who are not going to be openly hostile to the interests of Latinos, who in our growing numbers are going to be a factor that cannot be ignored.

I am aware that there are non-Latino people who could fit that description.

So long as Obama does not pick one of these so-called Constitutional purists who thinks that the document is to be read literally (and they always read it in ways that are hostile to Latinos and many other interests), his pick will likely be satisfactory.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Hispanic National Bar Association compiled the following list of (http://sev.prnewswire.com/publishing-information-services/20090513/DC1644913052009-1.html) Latino legal minds who could be picked by Barack Obama for the Supreme Court.