Srinivasan loses SC bid, Obama picks another
Indian-origin judge Sri Srinivasan lost the race for nomination as US Supreme Court judge with President Barack Obama choosing long time jurist Merrick Garland instead. Obama formally announced his intent to nominate Garland, who has earlier been on the shortlist twice, in a ceremony at the White House's Rose Garden. President Obama called Garland "one of America's sharpest legal minds".
US Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President and vetted by the Senate. Unlike Indian Supreme Court judges, who retire at the age of 65, US Supreme Court judges are appointed for life and leave judgeship only when they die or take voluntary retirement. Due to this provision, not every President in the US gets to nominate a US Supreme Court judge.
Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh before migrating to the US where he grew up in Kansas. Sri, 48, received his law degree from Stanford Law School, where he served as an editor in the Stanford Law Review, and has an MBA from Stanford Business School. He was nominated as the judge at the US Court of Appeals for District of Columbia circuit.
Sri Srinivasan enjoyed high reputation for his distinguished career as an advocate at the US Court of Appeals and US Supreme Court. As President Obama's principal Deputy Solicitor General, he successfully fought against the Defense of Marriage Act. He managed to secure 97-0 in the bitterly divided senate when he was nominated by Obama in 2012 as a member of US Court of Appeals.
Media reports in the past have termed Srinivasan as President Obama's "Supreme Court nominee in waiting".
Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia was an associate judge of the US Supreme Court who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. In his 30-year long career span at the US Supreme Court, he was a strongly conservative judge who defended the powers of the executive branch of the government. He was found dead on 13th Feb apparently of natural reasons in West Texas.
Sri Srinivasan, a Chandigarh-born judge could soon become the first Indian-born judge appointed to the bench of the US Supreme Court in history. According to a CNN report, almost all lists carrying the names of prospective judges begin with Srinivasan as the top contender. The vacancy was created after the sudden demise of Justice Antonin Scalia (79), who reportedly died of natural causes.
Appointing a US Supreme Court judge is considered as an important legacy of a President. While President Obama said that he will fulfil his "constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor" to Justice Scalia, Republicans have hinted that they may block Obama's nomination in the senate. Republican Presidential nominee, Ted Cruz, said that the replacement of Justice Scalia should be named by the next President.
The widely-expected promotion of Indian American judge Sri Srinivasan to the US Supreme Court has been complicated by politics over the 2016 Presidential elections. The Obama administration proposed another judge Jane Kelly, a federal appellate judge in Iowa, for the Supreme Court bench. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Republican Senator Charles Grassley said Judge Kelly was being used as a political pawn.
