Replace Justice Souter With a Liberal Woman

David Souter, a left-leaning Supreme Court Justice, will be retiring, so it would make sense for Obama to appoint another liberal judge. Appointing a smart, liberal woman would make the most sense. In fact, the more liberal the better, to counter-balance Justices Thomas, Roberts, Alito, and Scalia who are all hard righties.

It would be normal to have 4 0r 5 women judges serving on the US Supreme Court. Women make up the majority of our population, a majority of the electorate, and women earn almost half of all the law degrees awarded each year (source: Generation Me by Jean M. Twenge, 2007).

Right now, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the sole "token" woman on the Supreme Court.

One woman who has been mentioned for consideration is Obama's Solicitor General, Elena Kagan. Ms. Kagan is a former Harvard Law School Dean. She's young (in her late 40's) and that's a plus.

Back to why appointing a woman is important. In a 2008 award winning paper entitled "Untangling the Causal Effects of Sex on Judging" (Boyd, Martin, and Epstein), findings indicated that male judges rule differently when they share the bench with a woman. And this makes sense. Think about it. Most men (e.g., husbands) function differently when women are around. And, dare I say it, they function better.

Obama says he wants to choose someone with empathy and understanding. A Harvard Law School Study found that twice as many women as men said that "helping others" was one of the most important factors in choosing a career. And according to a study by The Center for Work-Life Policy, only 20% of highly qualified female lawyers said that having a "powerful position" was an important career goal.

Women experience life differently than men, and female moral reasoning is different than a man's. A more gender-balanced Supreme Court would be more normal. And there are many highly qualified brilliant liberal women to fill this position.

Pictured: Solicitor General Elena Kagan