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Politics | 05/24/2009 2:24 pm

10 Facts About Diane Wood, Potential Supreme Court Justice Pick

Hon. Diane P. Wood is believed to be one of the women on President Barack Obama’s short list of Supreme Court justices. Tell us what you know about her.
By The Staff at wowOwow.com

President Barack Obama is beginning interviews with prospective replacements for David Souter’s Supreme Court seat. On Tuesday, he met with Judge Diane Wood at the Georgetown University Law Center.

So who is Hon. Diane Pamela Wood? Will she change the dynamics of the Supreme Court?

Here are ten facts wowOwow has collected about Diane P. Wood, to help you get to know her a little better.

1) Judge Wood was born in New Jersey and her father was an accountant for Exxon.

2) She received her bachelor’s degree in 1971, and her law degree at the University of Texas in 1975, according to the University of Chicago Law School Website.

3) After graduation, Wood served as a clerk for Judge Irving Goldberg and Justice Harry Blackmun.

4) She has been associated with the University of Chicago since 1981, and first met President Obama while they were both teaching at the university’s law school, The Washington Post reports. Wood currently serves on the faculty as a senior lecturer of law.

5) Wood has served 14 years in the federal court systems, and the Post reports she is respected in Chicago’s liberal legal circles for serving as an intellectual counterpart to the circuit’s star conservative judges, Frank H. Easterbrook and Richard Posner.

6) From 1993 to 1995, Wood worked as the deputy assistant general in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

7) In 1995, then-President Bill Clinton nominated Wood for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and it was confirmed by the Senate.

8) According to The New Republic, "In the most recent Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, Wood gets consistently high marks from anonymous lawyers for her legal abilities, courtroom demeanor and active participation in oral argument. Some lawyers note that she is a liberal by the standards of the Seventh Circuit, and that she appears to be more neutral than some of the others, but still has that slight government tilt."

9) Wood has musical talent: she plays the oboe and English horn. 

10) Wood, 58, is married to her second husband, Robert L. Sufit, a professor of neurology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, according to Bester News. Wood has three children (Kathryn, David and Jane) and three stepchildren (Ben, Jessica and Alexandra).

—-

With Souter leaving the nation’s highest judicial body, most speculate Obama will hire a female to gain more balance in the predominately male third branch. When we first posed the question to our audience on who Obama should choose as Souter’s replacement, 23 readers weighed in with various responses.

Mary Quite-Contrary said:

The problem Obama will face is not a bumper crop of well qualified, intelligent women candidates; as there are many.  It is the political baggage that alot of his campaign rhetoric drags along … Souter was not a conservative or even a centrist on the bench; yet, because he was a ‘Bush’ appointment, I fear the far left will call for someone on the fringes to ‘make up’ for his perceived (though not validated by decision making) right leanings.  This is just going to be fascinating to watch…multiple times, as Ginsberg is in failing health.

Nancy Northup said:

With Justice Souter’s retirement, we lose someone who has been a consistent supporter of abortion rights. The Center for Reproductive Rights is advocating for President Obama to nominate an individual who will remain committed to protecting women’s privacy and reproductive health choices.

Since Justice David Souter joined the bench in 1990, there’s been a substantial shift in the acceptance and protection of reproductive rights worldwide … The Center urges President Obama to nominate a Justice who has a strong understanding of the realities of women’s lives, understands the real life experiences of people, and ultimately, is committed to the principles and promise of Roe v. Wade.

Now we’re empowering you to tell us what you know about Wood below. Also tell us what you know or think about the other women thought to be on Obama’s short list (Solicitor General Elena Kagan and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor).

15 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

phyllis Doyle Pepe
I don’t know anything more about Wood than what is in the article. I do know what Obama is looking for. He is the first President in history to have voted against the confirmation of the Chief Justice who later administered his oath of office. He admired Robert’s intellect and integrity and would trust his judgement ninety-five percent of the cases before the Supreme court, but it was the five per cent of hard cases, where  the constitutional text will not be directly on point. "The language of the statue will not be perfectly clear. Legal process alone will not lead you to a rule of decision. In those circumstances your decisions about whether affirmative action is an appropriate response to the history of discrimination in this country or whether a general right of privacy encompasses a more specific right of women to control their reproductive decisions …the critical ingredient is supplied by what is in the judge’s heart." Obama did not trust Robert’s heart. "It is my personal estimation that he has far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak." The first bill that Obama signed as President was known as the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; it specifically overturned the interpretation of employment law that Roberts had endorsed in the 2007 case. Given all this it is clear that Obama is looking for someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook. He wants someone who knows how these laws affect the daily lives of citizens. He used the word empathy––a word that more than ever is crucial in all our dealings, foreign and domestic.
By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 05/21/2009 5:51 pm
Laura Ward
It is my understanding that Phyllis Doyle Pepe interprets Obama wanting someone on the Supreme Court not to to be such a stickler to the letter of the law and to understand that there’s people involved. If so, I’m for that!
By Laura Ward on 05/21/2009 7:32 pm
f p
She’ll be an excellent choice.  A counter to Thomas and that fool Scalia.
By f p on 05/22/2009 6:07 am
Janine Garrison
It sounds good to have an "empathetic" judge cos he’s on our side. But what do we do when a President we disagree with starts picking "empathetic" judges? Better to have someone who interprets the law strictly—equal protection under the law is what we want, because justice must be blind. I love Obama but this is a dangerous, dangerous approach for him to take—to tell a judge to follow his heart instead of the law? Wow. Not good.
By Janine Garrison on 05/22/2009 7:56 am
phyllis Doyle Pepe
Janine: you are misunderstanding Obama’s words; C Anne below clarifies it perfectly. It’s in those five percent cases where empathy plays such a strong differentiation. My example of the Ledbetter case is a perfect example where Robert’s tenancy in his decisions is not for the little guy, and I think you’ll agree, the little guy has gotten, as this recession has proved, royally screwed.
By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 05/22/2009 5:06 pm
Bill Lee

Thomas Jefferson suggested that the Congress be encouraged to focus on quality of laws passed, rather than quantity, and for good reason, I think. In one aspect, laws are made for the few instead of the many: those with enough influence, power, and time are those that are best able to take advantage of any loopholes in the law and also to formulate strategies to make the law work to their advantage as much as possible.

Perhaps we should not so much worry about maintaining empathy in the courtroom as we should just keeping our outrageous congress in check. Fewer and better-written laws would, by Jefferson’s logic, negate the need for empathy in the courtroom.

By Bill Lee on 05/25/2009 10:22 pm
Victoria J
Janine…show us some of your letters questioning the criteria of former President Bush, Clinton, etc…I doubt you love Obama if you believe this is a dangerous approach.  I, on the other hand appreciate his understanding of the court, Constitutional law andI  will embrace his choice whether a woman or not. 
By Victoria J on 05/25/2009 12:48 pm
C. Aune

Empathetic means to me they can see BOTH sides,  It doesn’t imply one side or the other is favored.

The judge should be able to put themselves in either situation and undersatnd the situation, not just the written law.

By C. Aune on 05/22/2009 12:04 pm
Margo Howard
I don’t know if people are aware of the fact that judges at the highest levels can lobby for the job. Judge Wood is reputed to have two publicists right now, and Justice Ginsburg was well-known for having her well-connected husband singing her praises to everyone that mattered. If I recall correctly, he used printed brochures.
By Margo Howard on 05/25/2009 1:20 pm
Anne McElvain
In my small town of El Centro, judges lobbied and campaigned for the job even at the lowest levels. (Many had to be elected).  Even when just being appointed, they made sure the people who would be in charge of that appointment knew they were interested and qualified.  One of the techniques my dad used to keep us in line as kids was to always be aware of our "permanent record" in case we wanted to get an important job like "judge" one day. Looking around us at the scrutiny, we realized it would behoove us to keep our noses clean. 
By Anne McElvain on 05/25/2009 4:46 pm
Tee Zee
Thanks Margo, I for one was not aware that these positions were "lobbied" for. I appreciate you insight on this!
By Tee Zee on 05/26/2009 9:42 am
Irish Eyes NY
Margo: now in the words of TZ—-THAT IS DISGUSTING in my opinion.
By Irish Eyes NY on 05/28/2009 5:24 pm
Suzanne Frazier
If she will honorably protect our Constitution, then I’m all for her.  I think we need to make sure that the Supreme Court watches over the rights of everyone, Americans and then some.  According to the Constitution that is the job of the Supreme Court.
By Suzanne Frazier on 05/25/2009 7:45 pm
Tee Zee

President Obama has chosen the "inspiring" Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for the Supreme Court. Too bad we can’t get the disgusting Anton Scalia off the bench making way for Diane Wood.

By Tee Zee on 05/26/2009 9:46 am
Irish Eyes NY

TZ: Inspiring?? Ask a few fire fighters in CT how inspiring she is.

And, why would you call Anton Scalia disgusting? Because he is a conservative?

Disgusting is not a word I would have used, but since you opened up this pandora’s box, there are alot more people that BO has picked for various posts that I could call disgusting.

* I wonder if Sonia has paid her taxes? Most of his friends (picks for posts) seem to think they don’t have to, this should be interesting.

By Irish Eyes NY on 05/28/2009 5:21 pm