Newswise — President Barack Obama's nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter is historic, says Wake Forest University political science professor Katy Harriger. If confirmed, Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be the third woman and the first Hispanic to serve on the high court.
"Unless something no one knows about right now comes out in the process, the odds of confirmation are in Judge Sotomayor's favor," says Harriger, "given the political context -- a sizable Democratic majority in the Senate, several Republican Senators that have supported her in past nominations to lower courts and a Republican party concerned about further alienating Hispanic voters." Even so, Harriger notes that the federal judicial nomination process has become a highly politicized one over the last several decades and there is every reason to expect that this nomination will face challenges from the opposing party and interest groups aligned with it.
Harriger is professor and chair of the political science department at Wake Forest University. She is nationally known for her expertise on the Supreme Court, the separation of powers and the federal special prosecutor. Her current research includes race and the Supreme Court.
Harriger is available to discuss the Supreme Court's history, trends and the nomination process.
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