Justice Souter to Retire Next Month

Various sources have confirmed that Supreme Court Justice David Souter is set to retire at the end of the court's current term in June. This means that the Obama administration will be able to nominate and appoint it's first Supreme Court Justice. However, this does not signal a change in the court's ideology, as Souter is regarded as one of the court's liberal justices.

Souter was appointed in 1990 by then president George H.W. Bush. He was seen as a success by the Republican administration initially, until his controversial decision in the 1992 case, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, where he sided with the liberal wing of the court and upheld Roe v. Wade. This signaled a shift in his ideology and since then he has been regarded as one of the most liberal justices on the court.

As the court currently stands, there are 4 "liberal" justices, Ginsberg, Stevens, Souter, and Breyer. The replacement of Souter would leave the court as it currently stands ideologically. However, the selection of a justice will give a hint as to the types of judges President Obama is likely to favor and appoint should there be any future vacancies on the court. Many have already suggested that he should nominate a woman or minority. Social networking sites like twitter.com have been flooded with postings calling for the nomination of a Hispanic, Asian, or homosexual justice. It remains to be seen how President Obama will fill any vacancy on the court, however it can be said that whoever he chooses would definitely be of a similar ideology based on what then Sen. Obama said he would look for in a judge while on the campaign trail.

Another certainty is the flood of interest groups in favor of and in opposition of whoever President Obama chooses. Over the years, Supreme Court nominations have gone from simple nominations of competent judges to resembling a political campaign. The nomination process has become a political event with the survival of politicians hanging in the balance. Confirmation hearings are now televised and heard around the country, and protests and rallies are commonplace. This is a great leap from the days of the court's first justice, John Jay who reluctantly took the job and did so with almost no fanfare or public attention.

While it is an important event, the nomination of a Supreme Court justice, it is unlikely that this particular nomination will have any significant effect on American jurisprudence.