Top Contenders for Souter's Seat Diverge on Key Issues

[usregimechange]

WASHINGTON - Soon-to-retire Justice David H. Souter has quietly repudiated the judicial views of a female California judge some believe should replace him and endorsed those of one of the leading contenders in a majority opinion he authored this week involving the rights of women workers.

With most expecting President Barack Obama to replace Souter with a woman, the contrasting opinions of the two women judges on the issue of women workers' rights showed that judges of the same general ideology, and even of the same gender, don't always reach the same conclusions.

Monday's 7-2 ruling, which resolved a circuit split, held that telecommunications giant AT&T Corp. could not be held liable for refusing to grant pension benefits to female employees for maternity leave taken before a federal law on the matter was passed in 1978. AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen, DJDAR 7019.

That decision reversed a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion written by Pasadena-based Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, who has been promoted by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and others as a possible replacement for Souter. Although reports suggest Wardlaw has not made Obama's shortlist, she would be the country's first Hispanic justice if nominated and confirmed.

At the same time, the Supreme Court's decision embraced the conclusion of the 7th Circuit in a 2000 case dealing with the same issues written by Judge Diane Wood, a frequently mentioned frontrunner to replace Souter.

http://pda-appellateblog.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html#5612935935433541254