Here’s a Short List of 5 Potential Latino Supreme Court Nominees

*This is well and good, but I wonder how many of the names on this list are also in that binder that President Obama has that’s filled with names of potential Supreme Court Nominees? This list, though, is a wonderful highlight of capable Latino jurists. VL

By Raul A. Reyes, NBC News (5 minute read)

It may seem hard to believe, but it was not so long ago that Sonia Sotomayor was far from a household name. The country’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice lived most of her life in relative obscurity until President Obama nominated her to the high court in 2009. Then came her nationally televised confirmation hearings, the iconic phrase “Wise Latina,” and her best-selling memoir.

Now, as President Obama prepares to name a replacement for the deceased Justice Antonin Scalia, there are several Latinos who are reportedly on his short list for possible nominees – and they could soon see their lives change dramatically as well.

Yet what makes this Supreme Court nomination so unusual is how politically charged it has already become. Senate Republicans have vowed not to hold any hearings or votes on Scalia’s successor until President Obama is out of office. “Presidents have a right to nominate, just as the Senate has its constitutional right to provide or withhold consent,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “In this case, the Senate will withhold it.”

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