SCOTUS

I'm getting a little tired of hearing how the next Supreme Court Justice must be a woman. The Supreme Court is too important to play games with. The choice should be solely MERIT based. What a crazy idea huh? When annointing someone to one of the most powerful posts in the country we ought to consider their capabilities first and foremost and not allow superficial concerns like gender and race into the mix. Obama should nominate whomever he thinks would be the best justice. If there are two equally capable candidates and he decides to go with the woman, thats fine. It makes sense to diversify the court when feasible. However, he should not sacrifice one iota of quality in his nominee in order to satisfy a quota.

This is not a basic position we're talking about. This is not the type of job where once you meet the qualifications exceeding them isn't really necessary. This isn't even the type of post where there are minimal benefits to greater capability. The Supreme Court Justices shape the future of the country as much as the other branches of governement do, if not more. They have enormous power because it is almost impossible to overturn many of their rulings. It is important that opinions from the Supreme Court be as far sighted and adaptable as possible, and that will reflect the capability of each individual justice.

Flip around this scenario, if the Court were packed with minorities and women would anyone be clammoring for the appointment of a rich straight white male? No, of course not. They would just want the best justice appointed. To be clear, I am NOT saying Obama shouldn't appoint a woman. Only that he should appoint whomever happens to be the best person for the job. If that turns out to be a straight white male then so be it. If it turns out to be a minority woman, so much the better. There is a reason that the Constitution takes such great pains to separate the judiciary from the other branches. It is just too important and too powerful to permit anyone but the most capable individuals to be appointed. Perhaps the most capable person will be a woman, perhaps not, either way I hope that the job goes to the most capable person, not just the most capable woman.

P.S. You absolutely need to be a lawyer, and preferably a judge, to be on the Supreme Court. It is far more complicated and intricate than most people realize and unless you truly understand the system you cannot possibly be a good Supreme Court Justice. There is no reason to sacrifice a few years hoping that someone can eventually learn the system on the job when you can choose someone who already does.

Madison