Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 3-11-16 Edition

White House News
Pres. Obama Has Begun Interviews For Supreme Court Vacancy
First Lady To Attend Nancy Reagan’s Funeral Friday
Former First Lady Nancy Reagan shares a moment with President Obama.
President Barack Obama ordered flags lowered to half-staff Monday at the White House and all federal buildings as the funeral arrangements for former first lady Nancy Reagan were an- nounced. However, he will not be attending her services.
Mrs. Reagan will be laid to rest in a private ceremony at 11:00 am (1900 GMT) on Fri- day beside her husband, former president Ronald Reagan, at his presidential library over- looking Simi Valley, California.
The White House late Mon- day announced that First Lady Michelle Obama would attend the service.
Reagan, the 40th U. S. president, suffered from Alzheimer's disease after leav- ing the White House and went into a long decline, cared for by his wife until his death in 2004.
JUDGES SRI SRINIVASAN
President Obama has begun interviewing candidates for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Sources close to the process say that among those being in- terviewed are: Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; Judge Sri Srini- vasan, of the same court; Judge Paul Watford, of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco; Judge Jane Kelly, of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals based in St. Louis; and U. S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who serves in Washington, D.C.
The first three are considered leading contenders.
Judge Garland, the oldest at 63, is also by far the most ex- perienced, a moderate liberal, with a long history as a prosecu- tor prior to joining the appeals
MERRICK GARLAND
PAUL JUDGES JANE WATFORD KELLY
KATANJI BROWN JACKSON
Charles Grassley. But she, too, is a relative newcomer to the federal judiciary, and she served previously as a public de- fender — a job rife with poten- tial political targets for Republicans.
Judge Brown Jackson is only 45, has been a district court judge for just three years, and received a relatively low rating from the American Bar Associa- tion at the time of her nomina- tion — enough to get her confirmed but not enough to suggest that she was at that time a legal star. Her political pluses are that she has done well since becoming a judge, is related by marriage to House Speaker Paul Ryan and is African- American.
The President is moving ahead with the nomination process despite Republican sen- ators' warnings that they will not consider — and will not
court in 1997. In 2013 he be- came chief judge of the appeals court. Widely respected, he has few political pluses for the pres- ident, as he is neither female nor a member of any minority group. In addition, he has a 19- year judicial paper trail for op- ponents to flyspeck. But he is highly regarded by Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals. Indeed, Utah Re- publican Orrin Hatch helped secure his confirmation to the appeals court.
Judge Srinivasan, 49, worked in the solicitor general's office in both the Bush and Obama administrations. Pres- ident Obama nominated him to the D.C. Appeals Court in 2012, and he was confirmed a year later by a vote of 97-0. He has less than a three-year judi- cial record, which in confirma- tion terms can be a plus, as now-Chief Justice John
Roberts learned when he was nominated to the high court. Srinivasan was born in India and came to the U. S. with his parents as a child; if nominated, he would be the first Supreme Court nominee of South Asian descent.
Judge Watford, 48, was confirmed for a seat on the 9th Circuit in 2012 by a 61-34 vote, garnering both Democratic and Republican votes. In his three years on the court, he has earned a reputation as a smart and careful jurist; indeed, two of his opinions — one a dissent and one a majority opinion — were ultimately vindicated by the Supreme Court last term. If he were nominated and con- firmed, he would be the third African-American to serve on the nation's highest court.
Judge Kelly hails from Iowa, the home state of Judici- ary Committee Chairman
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