Sears on Obama's short list for Supreme Court

By Bill Rankin

Leah Ward Sears, the former chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, is once again on the short list to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, the Associated Press and ABC News reported Monday.

Sears, 54, was among those considered to replace Justice David Souter, who retired in June 2009. President Barack Obama wound up selecting Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a federal appeals court judge from New York.

Sears' name now is among more than half a dozen candidates being considered by the president to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring this summer.

Others being considered by the White House include federal appeals court judges Diane Wood of Chicago, Sidney Thomas of Montana and Merrick Garland of Washington, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the AP reported. A number of news organizations reported last week that Wood, Garland and Kagan are the leading candidates.

Obama is expected to name a nominee within a few weeks to replace Stevens, who is retiring at the end of the high court's term.

Sears retired from the Georgia Supreme Court last June to teach, work for a think tank and join the Atlanta office of Schiff Harden, a law firm headquartered in Chicago. Sears was out of the country Monday and unavailable for comment.

After it was disclosed that she was being considered to succeed Souter, Sears said in a interview, "I like being thought of, because that means I'm being well thought of."

Sears broke a number of barriers as a judge. When appointed by Gov. Zell Miller in 1992 to the state Supreme Court, she was the first woman and youngest person ever to sit on the court. In 1995, Sears became the nation's first black woman to preside over a state Supreme Court as chief justice.

Don Samuel, an Atlanta criminal defense attorney, said Sears would be a good pick for the nation's highest court because she would bring a new perspective. Unlike all the court's current justices, he noted, she has not served as a federal appeals court judge.

"She'd be a breath of fresh air, just like [former] Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who had served on the Arizona Supreme Court," Samuel said. "I think she'd be a fabulous choice."

Said Atlanta lawyer Linda Klein, "Justice Sears has distinguished herself in many ways as both a lawyer and as a jurist. I'm not surprised she's receiving serious consideration."