NPR: Supreme Court Choices You Haven't Heard Of

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Weekend Edition Sunday, May 17, 2009 · The political classes are getting itchy this weekend in anticipation of a Supreme Court nomination from President Obama this week or next. White House officials are gleefully telling reporters the president's list includes people not generally mentioned in the press, so what are some of the names that have gotten little or no attention?

Ok, without a full-scale vet, let's make our list, in alphabetical order — with the understanding that there are yet more names we haven't included:

First, Christine Arguello: Mexican-American; a Harvard law grad, the daughter of a railroad worker. She was the first in her family to go to college. A lawyer, professor and Colorado's chief deputy attorney general, she was nominated by President Clinton to a federal appeals court, but too late to win confirmation. Last year, promoted by Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar, she was appointed a federal trial judge by President Bush.

Reuben Castillo: Also Mexican-American; a federal trial judge with 15 years of experience. Fun fact: Obama argued before him as a young lawyer.

Nora Demleitner: Dean of Hofstra Law School and a sentencing expert. A former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, she testified as a Democrat in support of his nomination.

More:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104222039&ft=1&f=1003

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1. More on Caitlin Halligan:

Caitlin J. Halligan, a former New York Solicitor General, heads the firm’s Appellate practice. She focuses primarily on appellate litigation in the federal and state courts, and complex and novel legal issues arising in trial court litigation. Her clients include a wide range of businesses and industries.

Ms. Halligan has served as counsel of record for a party or amicus curiae in more than 40 matters in the U.S. Supreme Court. She has argued four cases before the Supreme Court, including a recent international trade dispute and several constitutional law cases, as well as numerous cases before the federal appellate courts, the New York Court of Appeals, and New York State’s intermediate appellate courts. Ms. Halligan was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and to Judge Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Ms. Halligan currently teaches a constitutional law seminar as an adjunct faculty member at Columbia Law School, and also served on the adjunct faculty at Georgetown. She is a member of two of the Governor’s Judicial Screening Committees and serves as Counsel to the Board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. She is a Board Member of the Fund for Modern Courts, a member of the New York Law Journal’s Board of Editors, and a member of the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association, where she served on the State Bar’s Special Committee on Civil Rights. She has spoken at numerous public events and continuing legal education programs regarding appellate advocacy, U.S. Supreme Court matters, and legal issues arising in cyberspace.

http://www.weil.com/caitlinhalligan/