<p>With the planned retirement of Justice Souter having just been announced, the "inside the Beltway" speculation is in high gear regarding President Obama's likely pick to replace him. Though no one can be certain about the President's final choice, two of the three most frequently mentioned possibilities are Princeton graduates, Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor and current U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan.</p>
<p>Judge Sotomayor '76 graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and then earned her law degree at Yale Law School. She is currently a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. If nominated and confirmed, she would be the first female Latino Supreme Court Justice in U.S. history.</p>
<p>Solicitor Elena Kagan '81 also graduated summa cum laude from Princeton, took a masters degree at Oxford and then graduated from Harvard Law School. Kagan was Dean of Harvard Law School prior to becoming the nation's first female Solicitor General.</p>
<p>Judge Sotomayor is moderate to liberal and was considered as a possible nominee by President Bush as well. Solicitor Kagan is probably more to the liberal side. Since Justice Souter generally voted with the liberal side of the court (much to the chagrin of the first President Bush and his advisors who had nominated him) his replacement with another moderate to liberal Justice is not likely to change the composition of the court. Justice Alito, also a Princeton graduate, weighs in on the conservative side along with Chief Justice Roberts, a Harvard graduate, Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas.</p>