HOW ABOUT UNANIMITY?:

Specter seeks another Roberts-like nominee (HOPE YEN, September 19, 2005, AP)

With Roberts' rise from appeal courts to the high court all but assured, Bush has begun early consultations on filling the vacancy created by retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Bush plans to meet on Wednesday with Specter, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Leahy, appearing with Specter on CBS' "Face the Nation," said he expects to hear specific names from the president at the White House breakfast meeting.

Possible replacements include federal appellate judges Edith Clement, Edith Hollan Jones and Emilio Garza. Also mentioned have been judges J. Michael Luttig, Samuel A. Alito Jr., James Harvie Wilkinson III and Michael McConnell, lawyer Miguel Estrada, former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

"I would hope that we could see the court have less 5-4 decisions and speak with more clarity," Leahy said.

If Justices Stevens and Ginsburg were to leave we'd get a lot of 7-2s.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 19, 2005 4:04 PM