Liberal Leah Ward Sears Mentioned as Another Supreme Court Pick for Obama
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 12, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — As President Barack Obama considers various potential replacements for retiring pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens, media outlets and political observers are floating the names of those most likely on his short list of nominees. Today, ABC News indicated former George Supreme Court chief justice Leah Ward Sears is another possibility.
Sears, like Obama, is black and could rise to the top if Obama believes now is a good time to place another African-American on the high court.
ABC News credits a senior White House official with adding Sears’ name to the list of likely nominees — joining pro-abortion 7th circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Wood, pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan, and DC Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland as the most-mentioned replacements.
Others, such as pro-abortion Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are said to be on the short list.
Sears was the first African-American woman to occupy the post of chief justice of a state Supreme Court when Governor Zell Miller nominated her to the post in 1992. She was also the first woman and youngest judge to sit on Georgia’s top court.
Since leaving the high court last year, Sears has practiced private law at the firm of Schiff Hardin and she is a graduate of Emory University Law School.
Sears is a member of the left-leaning American Constitution Society and a worry for pro-life advocates.
Americans United for Life highlighted Sears when she made the short list of potential Supreme Court appointments last year, though Obama ultimately went with pro-abortion Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Justice Sears has not issued any known decision on life-related issues, but AUL indicates "Sears has evidenced a broad conception of substantive constitutional privacy — the very basis upon which Roe v. Wade is predicated."
Sears has "referred to the responsibility of courts to protect constitutional rights against ‘morals legislation’ the majority," AUL notes, which concerns it regarding abortion issues.
The best pro-life advocates can hope for is retaining the current 5-4 pro-abortion majority with any nominee Obama puts forward likely keeping that split in place by having the same pro-abortion position as Justice Stevens.
As LifeNews.com reported,Stevens is stepping down this summer and a battle over the replacement is expected to get a new justice in place by the time the court begins its October session.
Top pro-abortion groups are urging Obama to select the most radical pro-abortion justice possible.
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