Experts doubt Granholm's Supreme Court future

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Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been mentioned as a possible contender to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, but experts said she is an unlikely candidate for the job.

Term-limited Granholm, a former Michigan Attorney General, was a potential nominee last summer before Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was nominated. Stevens’ retirement announcement puts Granholm’s name in that pool again.

But her lack of judicial experience makes her nomination improbable, said Brian Kalt, an MSU associate law professor and constitutional law expert.

“The main thing is that she has never been a judge,” he said.

“She was on the long version of the short list last time. They will say ‘Let’s consider all of our options,’ but I don’t think she’s that serious of a contender.”

In a letter to President Barack Obama on Friday, Stevens said he plans to retire after the Supreme Court finishes work for the summer.

To replace a Supreme Court justice, the president must nominate a candidate and both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate must confirm the nominee.

In an e-mail, Granholm’s spokeswoman Liz Boyd said there are many potential nominees and the process is something “that begins and ends with the White House.”

“The governor has maintained that to be nominated by the president to serve on the Supreme Court would be a privilege,” Boyd said.

Senate Republicans have expressed desire to prevent confirmation of any nominee they dislike, and this means they will be extremely critical of a nominee’s previous experience, Kalt said.

“(Obama) is not really in a position to take chances,” he said.

“If it is going to be someone who is not a judge, it would have to be someone that no one can say they are not qualified.”

Although her background might work against her, a Supreme Court justice without judicial experience is not “completely unheard of,” MSU law professor Frank Ravitch said.

“The real downside is people get caught up in this liberal-conservative (fight),” he said.

“And they may accuse her of being liberal, but they also may accuse anyone the president nominates of being liberal.”

The combination of being perceived as liberal and a lack of judicial experience both will impact her shot at nomination, said political analyst and Lansing-based polling firm EPIC-MRA President Bernie Porn.

“While she does have experience as attorney general and is more than qualified, they will look at somebody with actual judicial experience,” he said.

Others said Obama should not consider judicial work alone and Granholm’s gubernatorial experience might help her in the Supreme Court.

“She has the legal background and she has led Michigan through some of our most trying times,” said MSU College Democrats Vice President Kaitlin Aprill, a social relations and policy sophomore.

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