Dean Johnson Writes on Souter Replacement for The Nation
Dean Kevin R. Johnson contributed an essay to "Following Souter," a set of pieces on potential replacements for retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter published in The Nation. Dean Johnson was joined by a distinguished panel of legal experts including Professor Lani Guinier of Harvard Law School, Professor Kenji Yoshino of Yale Law School, Professor David Cole of Georgetown Law, and Professor Ian Haney Lopez of UC Berkeley School of Law.
In his essay, Dean Johnson suggests two candidates who "both made the most of humble beginnings" and "would add valuable perspective to the Court," Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the first Puerto Rican woman to serve as a U.S. Circuit Court judge, and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, an African American with experience clerking for U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt, working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, as assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department, and as general counsel for Texaco and Coca-Cola.
Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.