White House nixes Hillary Clinton Supreme Court rumors

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Though she lead many court-watchers’ short lists of prospective replacements for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, the White House put the kibash on those rumors today. Reports the Washington Post:

“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not under consideration as a Supreme Court nominee, the White House said Monday. ‘The president thinks Secretary Clinton is doing an excellent job as Secretary of State and wants her to remain in that position,’ White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said.”

One of my favorite legal commentators, Slate’s Emily Bazelon, has always been a big Clinton cheerleader (though she didn’t support her presidential run, interestingly) made a great case for Clinton as an associate justice late last week:

She’s been an advocate for children and for families for as long as she’s been in public life. They are in need of as much help as they can get on the court. (Wait for this term’s ruling on whether juveniles can serve life without parole to see what I mean.) She knows how to frame ideas for a wide audience, which would help the liberal wing of the court counterbalance the genius rhetoric of Antonin Scalia.

Most in the know seem to agree that the two main contenders are Diane Wood and Elena Kegan, who were both vetted last time a vacancy came up under Obama’s then very young presidency. Whether or not you’re disappointed by Clinton being now officially out of the running, how exciting is it that general consensus (for whatever it’s worth) seems to place two women as the front-runners for another Supreme Court post. Though the nominee hasn’t been announced and we’re still a long, hard-fought confirmation battle away, dare I say we might be a little closer to real representation on the nation’s highest bench?