Call Him Chief

This morning the Senate confirmed John Roberts, 50, as the next chief justice of the Supreme Court. The Senate voted 78-22, with all the Republicans supporting Bush's nominee and Democrats split. He will follow the late William Rehnquist as cheif justice. That leaves Bush one post to fill, and many activists--on both sides of the aisle--clamoring for a new minority or female justice. One woman that fits both bills is Janice Brown, a former justice of the California Supreme Court, who was recently nominated--and after an acrimonious confirmation battle, confirmed--to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a lightning rod for Democratic criticism, whose nomination was only passed after the "Gang of 14" agreement earlier this year to avoid the "nuclear option" in the Senate. She was one of Bush's stalled nominee let through in order to preserve the concept of the filibuster--under "extrodinary circumstances" that were never defined. But she does make the short "hot" list for nominees to potentially fill the retired Sandra Day O'Connor's spot on the high court.