Article describes legal scholar Pamela Karlan as a "liberal version of Justice Scalia"

[usregimechange]

Two high-profile liberal female legal scholars being mentioned are Pamela Karlan, born in 1959, and Kathleen Sullivan, born in 1955. Both teach law at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif...

"It's going to be hard to find people who are ideologically liberal versions of Justice Scalia, because what that would mean, I suppose, is a Thurgood Marshall or a Bill Brennan, and American law has moved since the 1970s on a lot of issues," says Michael Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, N.Y.

"I think it will be very hard to find someone on the liberal side who is an ideological liberal in the way that Scalia is an ideological conservative," Dorf says. "Part of what people want is someone who is temperamentally a fighter in the way that Scalia is. Karlan is someone who fits that bill."

"It is hard to find people who are simultaneously ideological, witty and charming. Scalia is all those things, but Karlan is also."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/05/02/20090502souter0502.html

[dalaigh lllama]

1. Scalia is witty and charming?!?!?

He makes my flesh creep.

[glitch]

6. It's amazing isn't it? I bet this guy laughed at Bush and Cheney's jokes. nt

:scared:

[BlooInBloo]

7. Should watch episiodes of Ethics In America, from back in the day.

[enough]

2. Sounds like just what we need. (nt)

[d_b]

3. we can haz her?

:bounce:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

4. Gotta emphasize her "liberal" credentials, don't they?

:banghead:

Of course, it really isn't going to matter who Obama nominates to SCOTUS to replace Souter because nobody to the left of Scalia will ever be acceptable to the reich-wing. Hopefully, Obama will politely decline the Republican's suggestions and/or refuse to include them in the decision-making process. It's not like Bush ever asked the Democrats who they thought might be acceptable for a (lifetime) SCOTUS appointment and, as much as I believe in Obama's calls for bipartisanship, SCOTUS is not really an area IMHO that he should compromise on. I feel pretty confident that he will nominate a competent and reasonably moderate/liberal individual for the seat.

[Thrill]

5. No one older than Roberts!

[usregimechange]

8. She is 4 years younger than him

[usregimechange]

9. AP picture and text about an event she attended a couple of days ago

Sanford Law School professor Pamela Karlan speaks at the American Constitution Society gathered at the National Press Club, Friday, May 1, 2009, in Washington. Karlan, who co-founded the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, is a possible nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

[usregimechange]

10. Video of her talking about abortion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyLm1lwTYk0

[high density]

11. Good video, thanks NM

[Thrill]

18. She appears to be too good to be true.

[usregimechange]

19. I was thinking so myself but we do have the votes

[Sensitivity]

21. Unfortunately, her sharp outspokeness on abortion and gay marriage likely kills her chances

even though she is one of the best possible candidates for the job

[SamCooke]

12. Dare I say, I'm impressed with her energy and abilty to argue

I'm loving her right now for some reason. I can see her actually fighting. I would like to hear her thoughts on things other than abortion. If she's that passionate about other topics, I really want to hear her views.

[StevieM]

13. I've been learning a lot about her and I think she would make the perfect selection

I really hope Obama picks her. She would be on the court for 30 years and she would be a safe selection, in terms of her ideology.

Court picks can be risky and you need to know what you're getting--there's no margin for error. Bill Clinton passed up the opportunity to make history by placing Judge Jose Cabranes on the Court because he had concerns about how he would vote. He even passed over his friend, the very brilliant Judge Richard Arnold, because of concerns about his health and how long he would last (concerns that were later proven to be well-founded).

Obama should pick someone young, healthy, intelligent and liberal. That's Pam Karlan. She's definitely my first choice and I just hope that she's his.

Steve

[lunatica]

14. I've been thinking we need a high energy fighter on our side

Someone who is smart as a whip and who stings like one also. Maybe we have her.

[Stellabella]

15. Sounds good to me. But there's a flaw in that comparison:

Ms. Karlan and Ms. Sullivan aren't misogynist assholes.

[DavidDvorkin]

16. Then she's got my vote.

[Phx_Dem]

17. She sounds good to me, but I think Obama might choose

someone outside the judicial branch. If he does, Gov. Jennifer Granholm seems like a great candidate. She's a solid Democrat, fairminded and very smart.

[brentspeak]

20. Even if she doesn't replace Souter, there's still a chance when Stevens and Ginsburg retire

Which should be by the time Obama's term ends.

[SoCalDem]

22. Separted at birth?

[TheKentuckian]

23. I don't want a Scalia of any sorts, even a liberal one.

I'm not saying this potential candidate deserves such a moniker but I want no one of Scalia's judicial temperament and ideological devotion on the bench for life. A thoughtful and curious soul, that actively listens, understanding of both the letter and the spirit of the law, who is reasonable, patient, and wise is the true foil to the likes of Scalia, not the same closed mind programed with different ideas.

[usregimechange]

24. I mostly agree but with ideologues stacked on the other side she might help balance the court

She wouldn't be replacing Justice Kennedy.