• "President Obama has interviewed his first prospective Supreme Court candidate, sitting down privately in the White House for a conversation with Judge Diane P. Wood, an official confirmed Wednesday," the New York Times reports.

• Wood, speaking at a Georgetown University Law Center conference Wednesday, "said she had long planned to attend the conference... But she ended the chat when asked whether she would be meeting with anyone from the White House on her trip here," the Washington Post reports. "'No, no, I'm not answering any questions on that,' she said with a laugh before moving on. An individual who is familiar with the vetting process said the meeting had already taken place, as part of a series of sessions with potential nominees that are expected to continue in the coming days."

• Also speaking at the Georgetown conference, "retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter made a powerful plea for re-educating the American public about the fundamentals of how government works," the Blog of Legal Times reports.

• "While much of Washington speculates on who will succeed" Souter, "the retiring -- in every sense of the word -- jurist revealed Wednesday what he will do upon leaving the bench," the Wall Street Journal reports.

• "Sen. Arlen Specter has given his list" to Obama, Legal Times reports. "The former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said today that Obama had asked him" to name some possible SCOTUS candidates. "I submitted four names -- all women, and none who owns a black robe," Specter said.

• USA Today remembers some past "key moments in the selection process."

Commentary

• Wood is profiled by Kristina Moore at SCOTUSblog, Ed Whelan of the National Review and Jeffrey Rosen at The New Republic.

• Jack Balkin does a "thought experiment" about how it might work if there was regular appointment of high court justices.