Indeed, everyone who follows the American legal system closely knows women have become far more prevalent, and will soon have the balance not only in numbers but in prestige in almost all aspects of the profession. I'm an undergraduate pre-law adviser at a large university. While the sample size is small (10-20 students per year in my department attempt to move on to legal education) the best students I advise, year in and year out are women.

In addition to Ms. Walsh's fine suggestions, I would suggest the Obama administration consider candidates not already on the bench. The University of Wisconsin's Barbara Welke would be an excellent justice, for example.

Benton Williams

DePaul University

I posted my first comment without carefully reading the other comments. In response to the old "best person for the job" arguments: Women already fill many positions that are traditional feeders for the Court. The fact that it is so heavily male (and white) suggests that white men continue to be seen by presidents, senators, and pundits as the norm and all others as outsiders, thus suggesting that women are being discriminated against at this point. We should continue to push for women to be treated fairly. And that means the pool of candidates considered by the President should include lots of women. If we want to use "affirmative action" to describe that practice, so be it.

On the other hand, if the president decides to ignore women candidates for this slot, in the long run it probably won't matter. There are simply too many qualified women at all stages of legal training and practice for men to continue to dominate the bench.

The U of Illinois scandal is a perfect example of the kind of affirmative action for the well-connected, where unqualified candidates are given preference over more-qualified, less-connected candidates. At U of I, sons and daughters of those connected to board members have been getting into the school by relying solely on those connections. In a series of e-mails and letters, admissions officers' concerns about the woeful qualifications were over-ridden by administrators responding to board pressure. The Tribune has documented all of this. Here's an article from the Trib's excellent series "Clout Goes to College" (caution, it's pretty revolting): http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ufofi-clout-college,0,847675.story

Benton Williams

DePaul University