The New Administration and the Supreme Court

The news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was operated on for pancreatic cancer yesterday has kicked up the level of speculation about the possibility of President Obama making an appointment to the Supreme Court after the end of its present term.  Many feel that he would be very likely to appoint a woman, and the names that have been mentioned include Federal Appeals Court judges Sonia Sotomayer and Diane P. Wood, along with Elena Kagan, who was dean of Harvard's law school and has been nominated to be Solicitor General.  See the story at The New York Times.