Supreme Court: Picking a woman
How important is it to have a second female voice on a high court dominated by men?
The next Supreme Court pick should be a woman, said Lauren Stiller Rikleen in The Boston Globe. "Women comprise approximately one-third of the legal profession," yet there is only one female justice on the nine-member high court -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When President Obama picks someone to replace retiring Justice David Souter, he should give women their due.
Here we go, said Don Surber in the Charleston, W.V., Daily Mail. With liberals in control in Washington, "gays want a gay justice. Hispanics want a Hispanic one. Women want a woman." Remember how boring it was when President Bush was around, and all his fellow conservatives wanted was someone who was qualified?
The short list of potential nominees is filled with qualified women, said Dahlia Lithwick and Hanna Rosin in Slate. Which, as always seems to happen in discussions of powerful women, means we're going to be treated to rumors that some of them are lesbians. The speculation and political opposition will be fueled by the fact that most of these women are "divorced or unmarried and childless" -- which really just tells you something about what it takes for women to succeed in the legal profession.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
6 lovely barn homesFeature Featuring a New Jersey homestead on 63 acres and California property with a silo watchtower
-
Film reviews: ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Is This Thing On?’Feature A born grifter chases his table tennis dreams and a dad turns to stand-up to fight off heartbreak
-
Political cartoons for December 14Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a new White House flag, Venezuela negotiations, and more