Supreme Court Justice Pick: “The Best” Choice

Articles abound as President Obama gets closer to nominating a Supreme Court justice to replace Justice Souter. One recurring theme I’ve seen in many of these articles and in the comments section of these articles is the sentiment that the best person for the job should be chosen without regard to race or gender.

But just what is “the best”? What characteristics, education and experience should the “best” candidate for the Supreme Court possess? Perhaps one of the criterion for an ideal Supreme Court justice replacement should be that the candidate is of a different racial and/or gender make-up than the vast majority of those justices already serving on the Supreme Court. Of course, gender and race should not be the only considerations, and it is equally important that the nominee be anti-racist and feminist (which white men can be). Yet, it is also high time that the make-up of the Supreme Court begin to reflect the demographic make-up of the United States. For far too long, the criteria for “excellent” Supreme Court justice nominees have been shaped by a white, male elite paradigm. Paul Campos writes about the potential problems with appointing yet another Harvard or Yale law school graduate:

“Limiting Supreme Court nominees to those who [follow the typical Supreme Court career path] largely limits the field to members of a social and intellectual elite who generally lack much in the way of either practical political experience, or contact with people outside their rarified socio-economic status. The court is ultimately a deeply political institution, and, as the history of the Warren court illustrates, being immersed in politics for much of their lives may serve justices better than having gotten straight A’s at one of two law schools.”

“The best” for me is a candidate who breaks the mold, who brings something new to the table, who is not more of the same, who doesn’t fit outdated, gender, race and class “neutral” notions of best. Campos believes that President Obama’s own unique road to the White House could prompt him to nominate someone who has not followed the typical Supreme Court career path. I hope he’s right.