This weekend, I came across a great Washington Post article on Leah Ward Sears, Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court (a major accomplishment in and of itself), and her unlikely friendship with US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, after he telephoned her to offer support when she faced political attacks in the ’90s :

Many years after that phone call, the friendship that has endured makes for one of the more intriguing subplots of President Obama’s upcoming decision. In naming Souter’s replacement, Obama is likely to choose a liberal jurist. Some in the civil rights community are hoping that person will be an African American, such as Sears, to soothe the lingering bitterness over the appointment of Thomas, a conservative who is the court’s only black justice.

But if the choice does turn out to be Sears, the nation’s first black president would be nominating someone whose closest friend on the court is the very person civil rights activists have accused of failing to represent African Americans’ interests.

President Obama’s Supreme Court pick, which will essentially replace liberal-leaning Justice David Souter with a liberal (and, therefore, not tip the current balance of the Court’s 5-4 voting dynamic in any significant way) has already stirred debate and early hit pieces against potential nominees, such as Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotamayor.

For me, what’s most interesting about this nomination, which will likely be some combination of a woman, a minority or both – is not what it will reflect abut the president’s ideology in selecting a nominee, but what we’ll hear and read about any of the potential nominees and whether they “deserve” to even be mentioned as potential nominees.

Case in point: Judge Sotamayor has been branded as a sassy, brassy, bullying Latina diva who lacks the smarts to make it to the Supreme Court.  Hmm, how many people of color in the working world have heard that refrain? If you speak your mind and offer opinion, you have too much attitude. If you set your standards too high (which I’ve been told) or want too much, you’re cocky or overly ambitious in a negative way, and not the American way. And, if you’re a woman who dares to play as hard as the big boys, it only takes seconds before you’re branded as a diva (code name: bitch) and people question your right to sit at the table.

According to the WaPo article, Justice Thomas has been known to come to the aid (behind the scenes) of judicial nominees he admires, but with Sears, his praise has been more open:

With Sears, Thomas has gone beyond the subtle — praising her kindness, calling her a wonderful person and describing her investiture as ‘a particularly special day and a day when my pride runs deep. . . . I never thought in my lifetime I would be able to witness a black woman as a chief justice of the state of Georgia Supreme Court.’

If Justice Sears becomes the nominee, or Judge Sotomayor, a gay nominee, etc., Republicans will have to attack tactfully, as they would be sure to offend any of several key voting demographics during their efforts to rebrand and reboot in time for 2010 and 2012. Look for more hit pieces to the dirty work.

E.J. Dionne also has a great piece on the upcoming nominee fight, and highlights the impact of the Supreme Court’s makeup as it tackles and sets precedent for major issues such as the Voting Rights Act (currently before the Court). As much as I’m trying to keep The Plenary Review focused on books, I won’t be able to leave this one alone.