The short list may be getting shorter, but the long list is only getting longer. As President Obama continues his secretive vetting of potential SCOTUS nominees, legal scholars and media observers are throwing out even more possibilities. These may not be household names, but they offer qualities currently lacking on the high court -- or so the arguments go.
The National Law Journal's Marcia Coyle sought out more than a dozen Supreme Court and constitutional law experts to get their take on whom Obama should nominate. While nearly all agreed it would be a good idea for the president to pick a woman or minority, they also suggested some "off-the-grid" white male candidates.
After the jump is an addendum to our "long list" including these contenders as well as several dark horses named in an NPR story this weekend. Click here for the full list. Know someone who has been rumored as a possible candidate but who's not on this list? E-mail Amy Harder.
Christine M. Arguello, U.S. District Court, District of Colorado
• Age: 53
• Education: University of Colorado, 1977; Harvard Law School, 1980
• Ethnicity: Hispanic
• Her court biography can be found here.
Nora V. Demleitner, Dean of Hofstra University Law School
• Age: 42
• Education: Bates College, 1989; Yale Law School, 1992; Georgetown University Law Center, 1994
• Ethnicity: white
• Her Hofstra University Law School biography can be found here.
JoAnne A. Epps, Dean of Temple University Beasley School of Law
• Education: Trinity College; Yale Law School
• Ethnicity: African American
• Her Temple University biography can be found here.
Annette Gordon-Reed, New York Law School professor
• Age: 50
• Education: Dartmouth College, 1981; Harvard Law School, 1984
• Ethnicity: African American
• Her New York Law School biography can be found here.
Caitlin J. Halligan, former solicitor general of New York
• Education: Princeton University, 1988; Georgetown University, 1995
• Ethnicity: white
• Her Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP biography can be found here.
Bernette Johnson, Louisiana Supreme Court justice
• Education: Spelman College, 1964; Louisiana State University Law School, 1969
• Ethnicity: African American
• Her court biography can be found here.
Martha Minow, professor at Harvard Law School
• Education: University of Michigan, A.B., 1975; Harvard Graduate School of • Education, 1976; Yale Law School, 1979
• Ethnicity: white
• Her Harvard Law School biography can be found here.
Alan Morrison, co-founder of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
• Age: 71
• Education: Yale University, 1959; Harvard Law School, 1966
• Ethnicity: white
• His biography from Harvard Law School can be found here.
Patricia O'Hara, Dean of Notre Dame Law School
• Education: Santa Clara University, 1971; Notre Dame Law School, 1974
• Ethnicity: white
• Her Notre Dame Law School biography can be found here.
John Payton, President and Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• Age: 62
• Education: Pomona College, 1973; Harvard Law School, 1977
• Ethnicity: African American
• His NAACP Legal Defense Fund biography can be found here and his WilmerHale biography can be found here.
Johnnie B. Rawlinson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Age: 56
• Education: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1974; McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific, 1979
• Ethnicity: African American
• Her court biography can be found here.
Coleen Rowley, former FBI agent
• Age: 54
• Education: Wartburg College, 1977, University of Iowa College of Law, 1980
• Ethnicity: white
• Her 2006 congressional campaign biography can be found here.
Bryan Stevenson, founding director of the nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative
• Age: 49
• Education: Eastern College, 1981; Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 1985; Harvard Law School, 1985
• Ethnicity: African American
• His biography, per the Equal Justice Initiative, can be found here.
Charles Swift, former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander
• Age: Born 1960
• Education: U.S. Naval Academy, 1984; Seattle University School of Law, 1994
• Ethnicity: white
Patricia Timmons-Goodson, North Carolina Supreme Court justice
• Age: 54
• Education: University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 1976; UNC School of Law, 1979
• Ethnicity: African American
• Her court biography can be found here.
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