The Next Supreme Court Justice: #114

On May 16 1994, Stephen G. Breyer was nominated by President William Jefferson Clinton to become the 113th person to be a member of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) . The nomination was approved by the U.S. Senate July 29 on an 87-9 vote and Breyer was sworn in as an Associate Justice 4 daMcys later.

Since then, there have been no vacancies on the court, the longest nomination gap in over a century, and all sides agree the next Supreme Court confirmation battle will be tremendous. DavidNYC at DailyKos has initiated a discussion of the following "usual suspects" of potential nominees for the next incipient Supreme Court vacancy:

Samuel A. Alito Jr., a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia who has been nicknamed "Scalito" because he has views similar to those of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Janice Rogers Brown, the first black woman to serve on California's Supreme Court. Her nomination to a federal appeals court has been blocked by Senate Democrats.

Miguel Estrada, a native of Honduras whose nomination to an appeals court was also blocked by Democrats. He's a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Emilio Miller Garza, judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. Bush's father, the first President Bush, considered the Hispanic judge a Supreme Court prospect.

Alberto R. Gonzales, [Attorney General, about whom little else need be said at this point].

Edith Jones, a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and former general counsel for the Texas Republican Party. Bush's father considered her for the high court.

J. Michael Luttig, put on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., by President Bush's father. Clerked for Scalia when Scalia was an appeals court judge.

Michael W. McConnell, young (50 years old) appointed to the 10th Circuit by Bush in 2003, clerked for Brennan and is admired by both sides of the aisle.

Theodore B. Olson, who was Bush's solicitor general until this summer and represented him in the 2000 Bush v. Gore case. Olson's wife, Barbara, was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

John Roberts, a former Rehnquist clerk named by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Larry Thompson, who was deputy attorney general and the Bush administration's highest-ranking black law-enforcement official until he quit in 2003 to join a think tank, the Brookings Institution. He is a longtime friend of Justice Clarence Thomas.

James Harvie Wilkinson III, judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and author of a decision that gave the government broad authority to hold U.S. citizens as enemy combatants without constitutional protections. The ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court.

I think Bush will pick Ted Olson, the man most responsible for Bush actually being (s)elected President of the United States. Olson has a media-ready story soaked with 9/11 overtones and potential Democratic senators who would support him. This pick is contingent on whether Majority Leader Frist is able to convince his colleagues to enact the so-called "nuclear option" (coined by Sen. Byrd). The odious Dick Morris argues today that Bush/Rove has put pressure on Frist to not annihilate the filibuster rule on judicial nominations. Recall that in Bush's first term Ted Olson was only approved by the slim vote of 51-47 to become Solictor-General (the position Thurgood Marshall held prior to his nomination, and who is often known as the "tenth Justice" because of their regular appearance arguing the legal position of the United States before the Court). If Morris is right (which would truly be shocking) that would mean that Bush has given up on forcing Olson (or Gonzales, for that matter) on to SCOTUS, and that the new frontrunner may be someone NOT on the above list.

UPDATED TUE MAR 15: In response to comments to this post at MyDD, I added Michael McConnell to the shortlist of "usual suspects" to be nominated by Bush to SCOTUS.