Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 6, 1994 TAG: 9404060119
SECTION: NATIONAL/INT PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Sources said that the White House had dramatically stepped up its efforts to develop a list of candidates in anticipation of Blackmun's resignation. But White House counsel Lloyd Cutler said Tuesday that ``we have no firm word yet'' on Blackmun's plans. ``We refuse to comment,'' said communications director Mark Gearan.
Blackmun, 85, was appointed to the court by President Richard Nixon in 1970 but has emerged in his tenure as one of the court's leading liberal voices. He is best known for his 1973 opinion in Roe vs. Wade establishing constitutional protection for abortion rights, and he recently announced that he had switched his position on the death penalty and would no longer vote to uphold death sentences.
Blackmun has said publicly that he is weighing retiring. He has told friends and associates that, if he were to retire, he wants to make certain that there is ample time for a successor to be confirmed by the Senate and prepare for the start of a new term in October.
Justice Byron White adopted a similar strategy a little more than a year ago when he announced his retirement. In an interview with the Associated Press in November, Blackmun acknowledged that White ``beat me to the punch'' by announcing his retirement, but added, ``I still enjoy the job. I don't know what I'll do when I retire.''
After a lengthy public search following White's retirement announcement, Clinton eventually settled on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The White House, determined to avoid a repeat of last year's process, has been assembling the names of possible replacements for months. This week, an administration official said, that effort has ``definitely picked up with a new level of intensity and activity'' and the plan is ``to move with dispatch'' to name a successor.
Among those under consideration for Blackmun's replacement are federal district Judge Jose Cabranes of Connecticut, who would be the first Hispanic on the court; federal appeals court judge Richard Arnold of Arkansas; Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt; and Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine., who has announced he will not run for re-election in November. The timing of Blackmun's announcement, however, makes Mitchell's candidacy for the court seat problematic because the White House needs his assistance in winning passage of Clinton's health reform program.
Other potential candidates include Attorney General Janet Reno, Assistant Attorney General Walter Dellinger and Solicitor General Drew S. Days.
by CNB