Burris: Obama Should Violate The Constitution By Basing His Supreme Court Appointment Decision On Race
Apr 12, 2010 6 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
The Senate’s only African-American member late Monday called on President Barack Obama to appoint a black nominee to the Supreme Court.
Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) told The Hill he is “working on” a list of qualified, potential African-American candidates to send Obama for the court vacancy that will be created this summer with the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens. Specifically, Burris suggested Obama should name an African-American woman.
“I will be urging him to make an excellent selection, and I would prefer an African-American woman,” said Burris, who holds Obama’s former Senate seat. “I would be interested in that. But I’ll have my list together. I plan to speak out on the floor, too, to announce some key names like I did last time. [Sonia] Sotomayor was in my list of three last time. So I plan to speak out on that. My staff is putting it all together once we do a little research.”
There have only been two African-Americans to serve on the nation’s highest court — the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, who was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, and Justice Clarence Thomas, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush. None of the top names believed to be on the White House’s short list are African-American.
