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Fiction for readers aged eight to twelve is the province of our Middle Grade Fiction category, and we're pleased to introduce a panel consisting of both veteran Cybil-ites and new recruits. Over the coming months, they'll be battling it out--in a friendly way, of course--to decide on their favorite middle grade books of the year.

Panel Organizer: Kerry Millar, Shelf Elf

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Ashley Bair and Alysa Stewart, Everead
Jennifer Donovan, 5 Minutes for Books
Sherry Early, Semicolon
Melissa Fox, Book Nut
Kyle Kimmal, The Boy Reader
Sandra Stiles, Musings of a Book Addict
Cheryl Vanatti, Reading Rumpus

Judges (Round II):

Amy Baskin, Euphoria
Eric Berlin, Eric Berlin
Jill Foltz, The O.W.L.
Kerry Millar (see category organizer)
Karen Wang, Kidsmomo

Every year, more and more exciting work of incredible quality and depth is  produced in the realm of graphic novels for kids and young adults. Our panel of comics enthusiasts, rabid readers and thoughtful bloggers is ready to put their expertise to work in selecting the best of this year's graphic novels for young adult and elementary/middle grade audiences.

Panel Organizer: Liz Jones, Liz Jones Books

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Kim Baccellia, YA Books Central
Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production
Alyssa Feller, The Shady Glade
Maggi Idzikowski, Mama Librarian
Liz Jones (see category organizer)
Nicola Manning, Back to Books
Madeline Stevens, Bibliophibia

Judges (Round II):

Amanda Blau, Cloudy With a Chance of Books
Matt Cunningham, Literary Asylum
David Elzey, The Excelsior File
Sarah Sammis, Puss Reboots
Paula Willey, Pink Me

We're excited to introduce the slate of hardworking literacy advocates, teachers, parents and book enthuasiasts--bloggers all, of course--in charge of winnowing down the nominations for our Easy Readers and Early Chapter Books category. For those who need a reminder, Easy Readers are those 6"x9" books designed specifically for children learning to read.

Panel Organizer: Anastasia Suen, 5 Great Books, Weekend Reads

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Jeff Barger, NC Teacher Stuff
Terry Doherty, Children's Literacy/Reading Tub
Julie Jurgens, Hi Miss Julie!
Cynthia Lord, Cynthia Lord
Stacey Loscalzo, Stacey Loscalzo
Anastasia Suen (see category organizer)
Melissa Taylor, Imagination Soup

Judges (Round II):

Jeremy Brunaccioni, Picture Book Review, Share What You're Reading
Eric Carpenter, What We Read and What We Think
Sharon Hrycewicz, Reading Chick
Susan Kusel, Wizards Wireless
Lisa Von Drasek, EarlyWord Kids

We've picked a savory blend of new faces and veteran Cybils judges--reviewers, librarians, parents and more--to sample this year's buffet of tasty Fiction Picture Books. (I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry for those picture books already!)

Panel Organizer: Pam Coughlan, MotherReader

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Emily Beeson, Homespun Light
Pam Coughlan (see category organizer)
Travis Jonker, 100 Scope Notes
Natasha Maw, Maw Books
Dawn Mooney, 5 Minutes for Books
Kiera Parrott, Library Voice
Jennifer Wharton, Jean Little Library

Judges (Round II):

Becky Bilby, In the Pages
Katie Davis, Brain Burps About Books
Tess Goldwasser, Kid's Book Blog
Melanie Hope Greenberg, Mermaids on Parade
Danielle Smith, There's a Book

Welcome to Part 2 of Nonfiction Monday here at the Cybils! Come into our virtual living room, have a cup of virtual tea, and meet our panelists and judges for the Middle Grade and Young Adult Non-Fiction category (also known as NFMG/YA). They're a truly tech-savvy bunch this year--almost each and every one can be found on Twitter, tweeting away. Just click on the [TW] to check them out.

Panel Organizer: Susan Thomsen, Chicken Spaghetti [TW]

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Karen Ball, Mrs. B's Favorites
Sarah Mulhern Gross, The Reading Zone [TW]
David Judge, Adventures at Wilder Farm
Jessica Leader, Jessica Leader [TW]
Susan Thomsen (see category organizer)

Judges (Round II):

Edi Campbell, Crazy Quilts [TW]
René Colato Laínez, La Bloga [TW]
David Gutowski, Largehearted Boy [TW]
Colleen Mondor, Chasing Ray, Bookslut [TW]
Sandhya Nankani, Literary Safari, Sepia Mutiny [TW]

You know what Monday is around the Kidlitosphere, right? That's right, it's Nonfiction Monday! In honor of Nonfiction Monday, we're revealing the lists of panelists for our two NF categories. Without further ado, here are the devoted bloggers, writers, teachers and librarians who will be choosing this year's standouts in non-fiction and information picture books.

Panel Organizer: Jone MacCulloch, Check It Out

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Doret Canton, Happy Nappy Bookseller
Shirley Duke, Simply Science
Amanda Goldfuss, ACPL Mock Sibert
Abby Johnson, Abby (the) Librarian
Jone MacCulloch (see category organizer)
Karen Terlecky, Literate Lives
Carol Wilcox, Carol's Corner

Judges (Round II):

Kara Dean, Not Just for Kids
Roberta Gibson, Wrapped in Foil
Deb Nance, Readerbuzz
Carol Rasco, Rasco from RIF
Franki Sibberson, A Year of Reading

Well, what do you know? It's Poetry Friday. And in honor of Poetry Friday, we at the Cybils would like to announce our first panel of the 2010 awards--the Poetry panel. These enthusiasts and experts will ponder a wide range of poetry books for young readers: rhyming stories and lyrical blank verse, by poets famed and yet-to-be-discovered.

Panel Organizer: Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Bruce Black, Wordswimmer
Elaine Magliaro, Wild Rose Reader
Gina Ruiz, AmoXcalli, The Graphic Landscape
Laura Purdie Salas, Writing the World for Kids
Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children

Judges (Round II):

Kelly Fineman (see category organizer)
Sara Lewis Holmes, Read Write Believe
Greg Pincus, GottaBook
Jama Rattigan, Alphabet Soup
Liz Scanlon, Liz in Ink

It's the 15th as I write this, the official deadline to have signed up to judge for this year's Cybils. Even as I type, emails are flying back and forth between organizers about who goes where. It literally came down to the wire.

At last count, more than 190 people volunteered for roughly 110 spots (give or take a few, I really haven't counted lately). Inevitably, some of you will be disappointed. It wasn't personal. Honest.

If you didn't find yourself tapped for this year's contest, please don't let that stop you from nominating books. We open nominations Oct. 1st, so get your Best of 2010 list ready. We also hope you'll help us spread the good word about what we do here.

Thanks again to everyone who volunteered. Judges lists will start posting soon -- today, with any luck.

--Anne Levy, Cybils admin.

Yes, it's that time of year, when we ask kidlit bloggers around the world to stop what they're doing and join us. It's going to be another crazy contest year, so we're again reminding everyone:

1. judging is loads of fun work. For which we pay you tons nothing. 
2. you should skip skim read every word of this post here. 
3. you'll also find an explanation of the secret handshake rules there too.
4. The deadline to sign up is September 15th.

Okay, here's the tricky part:

We want you to email us at cybils09 (at) gmail (dot) com. BUT ... if you don't have the right phrase in your subject line, we'll know you didn't read this little post here, like we asked.

See you all soon!

-Anne Levy, Cybils admin.

Yes, it's that time of year, when we ask kidlit bloggers around the world to stop what they're doing and join us. It's going to be another crazy contest year, so we're again reminding everyone:

1. judging is loads of fun work. For which we pay you tons nothing. 
2. you should skip skim read every word of this post here. 
3. you'll also find an explanation of the secret handshake rules there too.
4. The deadline to sign up is September 15th.

Okay, here's the tricky part:

We want you to email us at cybils09 (at) gmail (dot) com. BUT ... if you don't have the right phrase in your subject line, we'll know you didn't read this little post here, like we asked.

See you all soon!

-Anne Levy, Cybils admin.

If you're wondering what it takes to pick a fantastic finalist list like the one we had this year for Poetry, take a side trip over to panelist Bruce Black's Wordswimmer blog and check out his roundtable interview with the illustrious blogging and poetry-appreciating panelists: Kristy Dempsey, Kelly Fineman, Sylvia Vardell, and Tricia Stohr-Hunt. As Sylvia put it, "[poets] use what we all know and then turn it inside out to help us see things in new ways."

Go read more here! 

--Sarah Stevenson, blog editor

During the nominations reading period, hundreds of books were devoured and discussed by our faithful panels of Round I judges, so that we could bring you the fabulous list of Cybils finalists. In the process, a lot of our panelists generated their own lists of favorite books from 2009--not predictions, DEFINITELY not hints, and probably not prophecies, but certainly a great source of reading material if your TBR pile is getting low. (I don't know about you, but thanks to the Cybils, I almost never have that problem!) Check these out:

• YA Round II Judge Carrie Harris, of The Wonder That Is My Blog, brings you her favorite YA Fiction and Sci-Fi/Fantasy titles of 2009.
• Susan Thomsen, our MG/YA Non-Fiction organizer and Chicken Spaghetti advocate, brings you her annual "Big List of Lists" of great children's books of 2009.
• Our Poetry category organizer Kelly Fineman listed some of her favorites in a last-minute holiday gift post (since we're posting it even later, I guess these would now be early birthday presents...)
• Though Steph Su isn't one of our panelists, her comprehensively ginormous 2009 book lists include many Cybils titles.
• 100 Scope Notes' Travis Jonker, a Round I Judge for Fiction Picture Books, compiled some entertaining 2009 children's lit miscellanea.
• Leila Roy, YA Round I Judge and she of the Bookshelves of Doom, compiled some of her favorite best-of-2009 lists.
• Past Cybils regular Betsy Bird gives her take on the best of the decade--and then Middle Grade Fiction Round II Judge Monica Edinger of Educating Alice reflects on Betsy's "Noughty" post with some comments of her own.

When we compile more favorite lists, we'll do another post--or you can leave your own link in the comments!

--Sarah Stevenson, blog editor

Thanks to FPB Round I Judge Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes, today we found out that some of our very own panelist bloggers are part of the group of stellar nominees for the 2009 Edublog Awards, which honor the best education blogs on the web. The "Eddies" have been around for six years, which makes them more venerable than us spring chickens, so we're excited and just a teensy bit in awe.

Firstly, former category organizer and panelist and all-around friend to the Cybils, our own Betsy Bird, has been nominated in the category of Best Librarian/Library Blog for A Fuse #8 Production. W00t!

A Year of Reading has been nominated for Best Group Edublog--hooray for Franki Sibberson, one of our NFPB panelists this year, and Mary Lee Hahn, who's been a panelist multiple times in Graphic Novels, though not this year.

Two Writing Teachers, which features Stacey Shubitz (one of our Round II Poetry Judges), was nominated in the rather daunting category of Best Teacher Edublog. 

And, last but absolutely not least, another nominee for Best Group Blog is I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids), one of whose contributors is a veritable Cybils fixture and our category organizer this year for Poetry--Kelly Fineman (also of Writing and Ruminating).

What are you waiting for? Go check out the nominees and VOTE! Huge congratulations to all of our Cybils peeps who were nominated, and PLEASE feel free to let me know in the comments if I've missed anyone.

--Sarah Stevenson, blog editor

Fiction for young adults is what these bloggers are all about--at least during the Cybils. Check out our panelists and judges for the YA fiction category.

Panel Organizer: Jackie Parker, Interactive Reader

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Sally Kruger, Reading Junky's Reading Roost
Jackie Parker (see panel organizer)
Tirzah Price, The Compulsive Reader
Leila Roy, Bookshelves of Doom
Amanda Snow, A Patchwork of Books
Sarah Wethern, YA Librarian Tales
Sarah Woodard, Sarah's Random Musings

Round II Judges:

Cathy Ensley, Words, World and Wings
Carrie Harris, The Wonder that is my Blog
Kelly Jensen, STACKED
Em King, Em's Bookshelf
Lee Wind, I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?

Meet our panelists and judges for Non-Fiction Picture Books--a truly diverse crop of writers, readers, librarians and teachers poised to find this year's best in NFPB and information books.

Panel Organizer: Jone MacCulloch, Check It Out

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Bill and Karen, Literate Lives
Kara Dean, Not Just For Kids
Amanda Goldfuss, ACPL Mock Sibert
Jone Rush MacCulloch (see panel organizer)
Debbie Nance, Readerbuzz
Franki Sibberson, A Year of Reading
Carol Wilcox, Carol's Corner

Round II Judges:

J.L. Bell, Oz and Ends
Shirley Smith Duke, SimplyScience
Roberta Gibson, Wrapped in Foil
Emily Mitchell, Emily Reads
Carol Hampton Rasco, Rasco from RIF

Middle Grade Fiction is our spotlighted panel today, and the seven Round I Judges and five Round II Judges are coming from all over the blogosphere to read the best in fiction for readers ages eight to twelve.

Panel Organizer: Kerry Millar, Shelf Elf

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Sherry Early, Semicolon
Melissa Fox, Book Nut
Abby Johnson, Abby the Librarian
Kyle Kimmal, The Boy Reader
Becky Laney, Becky's Book Reviews
Sarah Mulhern, The Reading Zone
Sandra Stiles, Musings of a Book Addict

Round II Judges:

Kimberly Baker, Wagging Tales
Stacy Dillon, Welcome to my Tweendom
Monica Edinger, Educating Alice
David Elzey, Excelsior File
Kerry Millar (see panel organizer)

This year we've got TWO sets of Round I Judges for SFF, because we get so many wonderful (and sometimes lengthy) nominations in this category. The great part is we get to involve even more enthusiastic bloggers in the process.

Panel Organizer: Sheila Ruth, Wands and Worlds

Panelists (Round I Judges), MG/Elementary:

Anamaria Anderson, bookstogether
Cindy Hannikman, Fantasy Book Critic
Brian Jung, Critique de Mr. Chompchomp
Eva Mitnick, Eva's Book Addiction
Charlotte Taylor, Charlotte's Library

Panelists (Round I Judges), Teen/YA:

Steve Berman, Guys Lit Wire
Gwenda Bond, Shaken & Stirred
Tanita S. Davis, Finding Wonderland
Nettle, The Muse, Amused
Sheila Ruth (see panel organizer)
Angie Thompson, Angieville
Samantha Wheat, Twisted Quill

Round II Judges:

Maureen Kearney, Confessions of a Bibliovore
Anne Levy, Cybils
Sam Musher, Parenthetical
Tarie Sabido, Into the Wardrobe
Tasha Saecker, Kidslit

Non-Fiction for Middle Grade and Young Adult readers, or NFMG/YA for short, has an excellent panel of new folks, old folks, all great-to-have-them folks:

Panel Organizer: Susan Thomsen, Chicken Spaghetti

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Alicia Blowers, The LibrariYAn
Sarah Rettger, Archimedes Forgets
Jennie Rothschild, Biblio File
Jill Tullo, The Well-Read Child
Erin Walker, Erin Explores YA

Round II Judges:

Wendy Burton, Six Boxes of Books
Jennifer Donovan, 5 Minutes for Books
Dave Judge, Adventures at Wilder Farm (Author Lita Judge's blog)
Colleen Mondor, Chasing Ray
Lisa L. Owens, L.L. Owens-Children's Writing Blog

Our Fiction Picture Books panelists are a truly diverse bunch, with a blend of familiar faces and new friends prepared to find you the best in writing and illustration for kids this year.

Panel Organizer: Pam Coughlan, MotherReader

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Shelly Burns, Write for a Reader
Pam Coughlan (see panel organizer)
Katie Harvey, Katie's Literature Lounge
Travis Jonker, 100 Scope Notes
Natasha Maw, Maw Books Blog

Round II Judges:

Amy, Big Brother is Reading
Andi (cloudscome), A Wrung Sponge
Lori Calabrese, Lori Calabrese Writes
Bethany Gatto, Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarian
Dawn Mooney, My Thoughts Exactly

Whether you're the type of poetry fan who likes your verse free or metered, you'll find a lot to love in this category of the Cybils. Our enthusiasts and experts are ready to get to work to winnow out the best in poetry books for young readers.

Panel Organizer: Kelly Fineman, Writing and Ruminating

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Bruce Black, Wordswimmer
Kristy Dempsey, Reverie--Abstract Musings on a Hopeful Life
Kelly Fineman (see panel organizer)
Tricia Stohr-Hunt, The Miss Rumphius Effect
Sylvia Vardell, Poetry for Children

Judges (Round II):

Sara Lewis Holmes, Read Write Believe
Elaine Magliaro, Wild Rose Reader
Greg Pincus, GottaBook
Jama Rattigan, Alphabet Soup
Stacey Shubitz, Two Writing Teachers

The Cybils panels are beginning to take shape with a fabulous cast of bloggers, both familiar faces and Cybils newbies. Today we're starting off with the Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books panel. Our Easy Readers category was brand new last year, and this year we've made a few refinements, including changing the name for the sake of clarity. For those who need a reminder, Easy Readers are those 6"x9" books designed specifically for children learning to read.

Panel Organizer: Anastasia Suen, 5 Great Books, Literacy Links

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Terry Doherty, Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, Share a Story - Shape a Future
Sarah R. Neal, In Need of Chocolate
Anastasia Suen (see panel organizer)
Jennifer Wharton, Jean Little Library, Check It Out
Melissa Young, Sweet On Books

Judges (Round II):

Heather Acerro, ACPL Kids, ACPL Mock Geisel
Amanda Blau, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Sharon Hrycewicz, Bend in the Road
Cynthia Lord, Cynthia Lord's Journal
Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

The Cybils panels are beginning to take shape with a fabulous cast of bloggers, both familiar faces and Cybils newbies. Today we're starting off with the Easy Readers and Short Chapter Books panel. Our Easy Readers category was brand new last year, and this year we've made a few refinements, including changing the name for the sake of clarity. For those who need a reminder, Easy Readers are those 6"x9" books designed specifically for children learning to read.

Panel Organizer: Anastasia Suen, 5 Great Books, Literacy Links

Panelists (Round I Judges):

Terry Doherty, Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, Share a Story - Shape a Future
Sarah R. Neal, In Need of Chocolate
Anastasia Suen (see panel organizer)
Jennifer Wharton, Jean Little Library, Check It Out
Melissa Young, Sweet On Books

Judges (Round II):

Heather Acerro, ACPL Kids, ACPL Mock Geisel
Amanda Blau, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Sharon Hrycewicz, Bend in the Road
Cynthia Lord, Cynthia Lord's Journal
Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Last week, we posted some inspiring resolutions for the upcoming year from a variety of Cybils folk--panelists and nominated authors alike. If you're still feeling stuck on your own list of 2009 goals, we've got a few more posts today from...well...let's call them writer-panelists. They're offering you their resolutions, thoughts, and inspiring words for the new year.

• Firstly, Graphic Novels judging panelist Gail Gauthier has a few really meaty-sounding writing resolutions for 2009, including the 365 Story Project--here's to making a daily commitment to writing!
• Poetry judge Gregory K. of GottaBook has written a hilarious poem all about New Year's Resolutions...and their tendency to be a bit breakable.
• Middle Grade/YA Non-Fiction panelist Vivian Mahoney, also known as HipWriterMama, wrote an Inspiration Monday post all about keeping inspired in the face of feeling completely overwhelmed, and maintaining that feeling as we enter a new year.
• Bruce Black of Wordswimmer, one of the Poetry nominating panelists, also offers some nuggets of inspiration gleaned from his interviews with writers throughout the year--"With luck," he says, "you'll find a beacon to help you keep swimming in the year ahead."

Thank you to all the Cybils panelists and authors who shared their wit and wisdom with us!

--Sarah Stevenson, Deputy Editor

No doubt many of you are either quietly recovering from New Year's Eve celebrations, or perhaps you're diligently working on your list of resolutions for the upcoming year. Our Cybils panelists have been hard at work, too--not just reading nominated titles and settling on the short lists, but also on their own New Year's Resolutions. Here is just a sampling to inspire you in the weeks and months to come:

• Charlotte Taylor of Charlotte's Library, one of our Fantasy and Sci-Fi panelists, had such a wonderful time reading through the nominees that she's resolved to keep her focus on reading sci-fi and fantasy for MG and YA readers during the coming months. Sounds like a very enjoyable goal!
• YA Fiction panelist Becky of Becky's Book Reviews has some admirably ambitious resolutions pertaining to blogging, rating, and reviewing--inspiring and informative for any book blogger.
• Another YA panelist, Amanda from A Patchwork of Books, also has some hopeful blogging resolutions, as well as a very specific reading goal: 250 books, with reviews. Whew!

Last but not least, we even heard about some New Year's Resolutions from a Cybils-nominated author. Laurel Snyder, who wrote Inside the Slidy Diner and Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains, posted a great cartoon as well as some resolutions we could all stand to follow, and reminds herself (and us) to stay balanced, have fun, and be healthy. I'm pretty sure we can all agree with that! Here's wishing you the best in 2009, and happy reading!

--Sarah Stevenson, Deputy Editor

Paul M. Collins, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Texas. He is author of Friends of the Supreme Court: Interest Groups and Judicial Decision Making which explores how organized interests influence the justices’ decision making, including how the justices vote and whether they choose to author concurrences and dissents. In this article, Collins discusses the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama relating to their likely appointments to the federal courts.

One of the most significant choices presidents make involves the selection of federal judges. Through these decisions, presidents, with the advice and consent of the Senate, are able to leave their mark on the American political system long after they leave office. In the last forty years, each president has appointed an average of two Supreme Court justices, whose service on the Court lasts about 26 years. Equally, if not more importantly, each president has appointed an average of more than 200 judges to the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. District Courts, who typically serve more than two decades on the bench. While less visible than the Supreme Court, these lower federal courts play a major role in the fate of legal and public policy. In fact, the vast majority of appeals in the federal court system are terminated in the U.S. Courts of Appeals, making these institutions the de facto courts of last resort in the federal judiciary.

Given the fact that the selection of federal court judges is one of presidents’ longest lasting legacies, the question remains: what types of judges will the presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, nominate to the federal bench? One fairly non-controversial factor is immediately apparent: both candidates will nominate qualified judges who will survive the scrutiny of the Senate confirmation process. In addition, it is likely that both candidates will seek to diversify the federal bench in terms of its racial, ethnic, and gender composition. Beyond these similarities, the presidential candidates exhibit stark differences in terms of their potential judicial nominations.

The primary factor that distinguishes the two presidential candidates centers on the ideologies of their likely judicial nominees. McCain, who is more outspoken about his potential judicial selections than Obama, would attempt to appoint conservative judges who fit the molds of Chief Justice John Roberts, former Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and Justice Samuel Alito—three of the most conservative justices to serve on the Supreme Court in the past forty years. Conservative judges tend to support restrictions on civil rights and liberties, favor the expansion of government funding to religious institutions, oppose affirmative action programs, and side with the interests of the states over the federal government in federalism disputes. While it is difficult to predict exactly who a president would appoint, potential Supreme Court nominees in a McCain administration might include District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Janice Rogers Brown, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Emilio Garza, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith Hollan Jones, former Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig, and former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson.

Obama would likely move to appoint liberal or moderately liberal judges who share the judicial philosophies of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice John Paul Stevens. Liberal judges tend to reject limitations on civil rights and liberties, favor a clear division between church and state, endorse affirmative action programs, and support the interests of the federal government over that of the states in federalism disputes. Potential Supreme Court nominees in an Obama Administration might include District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw. Some have even entertained the potential nomination of New York Senator Hillary Clinton, although I think that is a rather far-fetched possibility.

A second and related issue that distinguishes the two candidates involves the politics of abortion. While neither candidate has indicated a willingness to use support for or against a woman’s right to choose as a litmus test, it is very likely that McCain would push to appoint judges who would restrict access to abortion, while Obama would attempt to appoint judges who oppose most restrictions on access to abortion. While I am confident that it is extremely unlikely that Roe v. Wade will be overturned by the Supreme Court because its central holding—that the right to privacy encompasses a woman’s decision to have an abortion—is embedded within American political culture, the ability of judges to expand or restrict access to abortions is nonetheless a powerful authority. This fact will not be lost on interest groups, which will elevate the abortion issue in their efforts to sway the selection of federal judges though both grassroots lobbying efforts and direct contact with members of the Senate. The high levels of interest group conflict over the next president’s judicial nominees will be made apparent to the American public as organized interests run internet, radio, and television ads centering on the next Supreme Court vacancy.

Finally, there is a pragmatic issue that must be kept in mind when discussing the presidential candidates’ potential judicial nominations. That is, it is very likely that the Democratic Party will not only maintain its Senate majority, but also expand the size of its majority by picking up additional seats in the 2008 election. This bodes better for Obama than McCain in terms of their ability to appoint judges with relatively strong ideologies to the courts. Simply put, it is very unlikely that a Democratically-controlled Senate will confirm an extremely conservative judge. However, there is little reason to believe that a Senate controlled by Democrats would interfere with Obama’s attempts to appoint strongly liberal judges. Given this reality, it is likely that McCain would have a difficult time appointing judges in the mold of Alito, Rehnquist, and Roberts, while Obama would have little trouble appointing judges who mimic Ginsburg and Stevens.

Presidential elections are about many things and, while the judges presidents choose are rarely at the forefront, judicial appointments nonetheless allow presidents to shape the American political system long after they leave office. In all likelihood, we will see two or more retirements from the Supreme Court in the next few years. The most obvious candidates for retirement are Justice Stevens and Justice Ginsburg, who are 88 and 75 years old, respectively. Both of these justices regularly vote with the liberal bloc of the Supreme Court, thereby giving the next president the power to substantially shape the future of this august institution. Moreover, history tells us that the next president will likely appoint more than 200 lower federal court judges. While less visible than the Supreme Court, these judges also wield considerable power in shaping American legal and social policy. The bottom line is this: Like it or not, there is no doubt that judges are policymakers. Because McCain and Obama differ in fairly substantial ways in terms of the judges they would likely appoint, it will serve the public well to consider the candidates’ potential judicial nominees before entering the voting booth to cast their ballots.

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