Granholm listed as high court option
Expert predicts Mich. governor could be Supreme Court pick if Obama is elected
Gov. Jennifer Granholm speaks with U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., during a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 671 in Monroe on Sept. 1. Obama later gave a speech to the crowd in honor of Labor Day.
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Despite an expert’s prediction that Gov. Jennifer Granholm is on Barack Obama’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees, experts say the stars would have to align for Granholm to sit on the nation’s highest court. Last week, The Washington Post placed Granholm at the bottom of a roster of five possible female Supreme Court nominees. The list was compiled by Thomas C. Goldstein of the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP.
Assuming the Illinois senator won the presidency and one of the nine justices retired, several more highly qualified hopefuls would probably take a seat on the court before Granholm, MSU associate law professor Brian Kalt said.
“I would be very surprised (if Granholm was nominated),” Kalt said.
“There are a lot of people who have been in line a lot longer who are much more obvious choices.”
But law professor Frank Ravitch said Granholm has many common qualities of a Supreme Court judge: Degrees from Harvard and University of California, Berkeley, a nationally recognized name and a four-year stint as the state’s attorney general.
“She’s no slouch,” he said.
Ravitch added that Granholm’s lack of experience on a judicial bench weakens her chances. Most Supreme Court nominees have spent some time on one of the lower courts.
“It would be more likely he would appoint her to the 6th Circuit Court and from there, she might go to the Supreme Court,” he said.
Three current justices — 88-year-old John Paul Stevens, 75-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsberg and 69-year-old David Hackett Souter — are rumored to be considering retirement during the next president’s first term.
Ravitch said it’s likely that at least one of the possible resignations would take place while Granholm is still in office. If that happened, Granholm could be forced to decide between her current job and a seat on the court.
“It would be hard for her not to take very seriously,” he said.
“On the other hand, she’s got her vision of Michigan and might say, ‘I can’t do it right now.’”
Liz Boyd, a spokeswoman for Granholm, said the governor hasn’t given it much thought.
“This is not the first time people have speculated about the governor’s future, and it won’t be the last time,” she said.
“She is focused on her current job.”
Ravitch said Granholm would be an even-keeled, thoughtful, moderate judge, but both Kalt and Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, said they would expect her to be a liberal judge who would loosely interpret the Constitution.
“You would certainly expect her to be a progressive, liberal Democrat just in the mold of some of the people she’d be replacing,” Ballenger said.
Stevens, Ginsberg and Souter are all considered to be liberal justices.
If Granholm were selected for and accepted a judicial position before her term as Governor is up, Lt. Gov. John Cherry would take her place as governor.
Ballenger said Cherry would likely adhere to most of Granholm’s political ideas, but he might work better with the state Legislature. Before becoming lieutenant governor, Cherry spent more than 20 years as a state legislator.
“He would have a chance to maybe get along a little better with the Legislature and figure out how to get things done in the legislature better than Governor Granholm,” he said.
Although Granholm wouldn’t be the first Michigan governor to sit on the Supreme Court — Frank Murphy was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 — Michigan residents shouldn’t read too much into The Washington Post list, Ravitch said.
“This is all a guessing game. These rumors fly all the time,” Ravitch said. “She could be appointed right away to the Supreme Court, she could not be appointed to any court.”
Commentary
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This is a joke, right?
(10/14/08 6:33am)Report
The Republicans would fight Gov. Job-Killer to the bitter end. This is a joke.
Dan
(10/14/08 8:04am)Report
I think Jennifer Granholm would be an excellent pick by an Obama administration. Her selection would mirror exactly the judgment and wisdom of a Democrat president.
beau
(10/14/08 8:18am)Report
Most people outside of Michissippi have no idea who she even is let alone whether anyone would consider her for a SCJ. Before we canonize anyone for any post in an Obama administration it might be nice to have the election first just for the heck of it.
Steve
(10/14/08 8:32am)Report
Granholm should have focused on becoming a judge rather than Governor. I don’t agree with her judicial philosophy, but her temperament and skills are better suited for a judge than for Governor.
This is a joke, right?
(10/14/08 9:52am)Report
I don’t agree with her judicial philosophy, but her temperament and skills are better suited for a judge than for Governor.
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Dick DeVos said the same thing last week on WKAR.
The list was “leaked” to shore up Slick Barry’s election, to show he wouldn’t try to appoint Tony Romero of ACLU.
Still a joke. Republicans will fight her, to the end, to fight endless taxation.
Matthew
(10/14/08 10:23am)Report
You know what would have been neat, SNews? If you had published the list. You know, the subject of the article? Yeah, that would have been cool.
And Slick Barry, I hate to break it to you, but the Republicans can fight all they want – it might be to no avail. If the election were held today, the Democrats would have 59-60 seats in the Senate. Add that to the discourse in your own party and I don’t think the Republicans could fight a cold effectively.
Dee
(10/14/08 11:02am)Report
I don’t think Granholm would be a good SCJ, but if it gets her out of Michigan, I’m all for it!
SoCal Spartan
(10/14/08 11:03am)Report
Although I do like Granholm and feel the state of Michigan legislature has screwed her over, I don’t think she’d be a justifiable selection for the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
Can’t we get a friggin American?
I do think she’s got the wisdom, humility, and good perspective. But she is a canuck!
learn to read
(10/14/08 12:34pm)Report
You know what would have been neat, SNews? If you had published the list. You know, the subject of the article? Yeah, that would have been cool.
Granholm was last on the list, following Sonia Sotomayor, Diane P. Wood, Elena Kagan and Leah Ward Sears.
It’s an insert on the right side of the page.
Matthew = STUPIDITY
(10/14/08 12:41pm)Report
If the election were held today, the Democrats would have …
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Crap. You’re just blathering Democ-rat crap.
You have no idea what is going to happen on Nov. 4th. If you did — you’d be God.
You’re not. You’re just a blithering blather of Democ-rat crap.
NOV. 4TH — THE ONLY POLL THAT MATTERS
steve
(10/14/08 1:07pm)Report
I wonder if people in mississippi insult their own state by calling it Missigan.
Todd
(10/14/08 1:31pm)Report
Professor Ravitch shouldn’t sell Gov. Granholm short in saying “she no slouch.” She’s a tremendous slouch.
As for Ms. Boyd’s comment that Gov. Granholm has a “vision” for Michigan, that begs the question: When does she intend on pursuing it? Obviously the mess Gov. Granholm has created over the past six years can’t be it. Or is it?
SoCal Spartan
(10/14/08 1:37pm)Report
Granholm did not cause the mess!
Matthew
(10/14/08 1:46pm)Report
Deny reality all you want. In the mean time, I recommend you check out www.electoral-vote.com. They factor in as many polls as possible, and they correctly called every state in the presidential race of 04 and all but two of the senate races. Best of all, they publish all of their sources and their math.
MartinMo
(10/14/08 3:33pm)Report
She would be a great addition to the Supreme Court. The hottest Supreme ever since Diana Ross.
Right On!
(10/14/08 4:23pm)Report
“Still a joke. Republicans will fight her, to the end, to fight endless taxation.”
Yeah, you know that damn Supreme Court and their endless spending bills. Raising MY taxes. How dare they!
Matthew = STUPIDITY
(10/14/08 4:34pm)Report
… all but two of the senate races.
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Idiot Matthew’s favorite headline: DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH ..
and a dollar gets you coffee.
SoCal Spartan
(10/14/08 5:24pm)Report
Yes, the people that blog that stuff are so stupid she can’t raise taxes from the judicial side of our check and balance government.
You MORONS should invest in brains and turn Fox News off and try to find better ways to think!
Reality Checker
(10/14/08 5:48pm)Report
Considering what a total disaster she’s been as the governor, this seems like just the type of pick a President Obama would make(mistaken, naive and uninformed).
DarthTom
(10/14/08 5:56pm)Report
Wow, when the Republicans sound THIS bitter, you just know they’ve accepted that the outcome of the election is a foregone conclusion.
SoCal Spartan
(10/14/08 7:34pm)Report
Amen, at least the fools have given up. How many Republicants are staying at home during this election?
Money question! After all McCain is preaching about increasing capital budgets, without supporting added costs. Except, he’d probably just cut up more veteran benefits…like he does.
After all a good Republicant understands that even if we put them in the place to get hurt, they’re not our responsibility. If we took care of our soldiers we’d be socialist/commie/terrorists just like Obama. Wait, the veterans DESERVE benefits such as health care, don’t they? Especially if they’re injured in our war!
Thomas Aprill
(10/14/08 8:50pm)Report
What a joke! At the helm she destroyed Michigan with the Union monkeys cheering and telling her she is doing a good job. Unemployment is the highest ever, there is a mass exodus of talented young graduates leaving the State in record numbers while no global corporation dare set foot in Michigan. Well I guess the democrats would call this success. On the doorstep to socialism and mass poverty. Hey I know, let’s accept more trash from other States, another brilliant idea of hers.
Anyone the praises her has lost their mind. May God have mercy on your sole. If I were Harvard University I would be embarrassed to call her one of our own.
Matthew = STUPIDITY
(10/14/08 9:49pm)Report
Wow, when the Republicans sound THIS bitter, you just know they’ve accepted that the outcome of the election is a foregone conclusion.
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HEY STUPIDS —
NOV. 4TH — ONLY POLL THAT MATTERS
morons facing 30 years of bosses with mean faces and short hair.
good job democrats
(10/14/08 10:02pm)Report
Anyone who thinks that Granholm has done an excellent job in Michigan needs to be evaluated by a psychiatrist.
Jason Van Dyke
(10/14/08 10:59pm)Report
Does anyone know what her judicial philosophy is? This is not a rhetorical question. I didn’t even know that she had been a judge.