President Bush Hints Next Supreme Court Nominee Woman or Minority 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 26, 2005
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — President Bush is expected to name a woman or a minority to the Supreme Court with his next selection and he seemed to confirm those expectations on Monday saying that "diversity is one of the strengths of the country."
The president also said he was confident the Senate would approve his first nominee, John Roberts, whom he named to be the next chief justice.
"I will pick a person who can do the job," Bush told reporters about his next nominee. "But I am mindful that diversity is one of the strengths of the country."
A Senate vote on Roberts is planned for Thursday and more than two-thirds of the Senate will likely support him. That’s more than enough needed to be confirmed and to overcome and potential filibuster, though Senate Democrats don’t appear to have one planned.
President Bush originally picked John Roberts to replace O’Connor, but upped his nomination to the chief justice position when pro-life Chief Justice William Rehnquist passed away.
Now, the president is said to be considering from among a poll of pro-life women and Hispanics to replace O’Connor.
Judge Priscilla Owen, a pro-life advocate who sits on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals; Judge Edith Clement of the 5th Circuit, described as a conservative jurist in the mold of Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia; pro-life Judge Edith Jones, also of the 5th Circuit; and Judge Karen Williams of the 4th Circuit, considered one of the most conservative of the women judges, are touted as leading possibilities.
If Bush chooses to go with a minority who is not a woman, speculation is that Judge Emilio Garza is at the top of the list.
Garza is a federal appeals court judge on the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Garza’s opposition to abortion is beyond question. He wrote two separate opinions explicitly criticizing Roe v. Wade and suggesting it be overturned.
