Newswise — Suzanna Sherry, Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law, is an expert on judicial behavior, the Supreme Court, constitutional law and constitutional history. Sherry's work in the area of constitutional law has earned her national recognition as one of the most well-known scholars in the field. She can talk about Justice Stevens’ judicial career and why he’s the “last of a breed.” She can also talk about what the president should be looking for in a justice and what it means to be an “activist” judge.
Tracey George, professor of law and political science, has done extensive empirical research on the Supreme Court and the federal courts, including the behavior of federal judges and courts. George can talk about judicial selection, both President Ford’s decision to nominate Justice Stevens and what factors President Obama and the Senate should consider for this nominee. George and Vanderbilt Law School Dean Chris Guthrie recently published research on “Remaking the United States Supreme Court in the Courts’ of Appeals Image.”
They argue that Congress should increase the number of Supreme Court justices and then allow the justices to split into smaller panels to make decisions, thus expanding the Court’s decision-making capacity. (abstract http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1374449)
Brian Fitzpatrick, assistant professor of law. Fitzpatrick researches judicial politics and judicial selection and is an expert on the Senate confirmation process. He can talk about the role senators play in influencing the process even before the President nominates someone. He can also discuss the individual list of Supreme Court candidates. Fitzpatrick served as a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia in 2001-2002 and as a Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations to Sen. John Cornyn in 2005-2006. Short list candidate Elena Kagan was one of Fitzpatrick’s law school professors.
Terry Maroney, assistant professor of law. Maroney specializes in Supreme Court decision-making, law and emotion, race and gender in law, and criminal and juvenile justice. She recently wrote an article on “Emotional Common Sense as Constitutional Law,” (abstract at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1282368)
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