Free Republic

Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, considered a potential nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, has drawn criticism from gay rights groups after announcing plans to join a think tank whose founder is an outspoken opponent of gay marriage. Sears, the nation's first black female chief justice of a state supreme court, announced this week she will join the New York-based Institute for American Values when she retires June 30. She has declined to address speculation about a possible nomination to succeed retiring Justice David Souter, who will leave the Supreme Court when it ends its current session in June....

One day in the early 1990s, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas telephoned Leah Ward Sears to introduce himself. She was a rising star in Georgia's legal community, a relatively liberal black woman on the state's conservative Supreme Court. Thomas had read about political attacks against Sears and called to say he didn't like it. "It affected her that he would take the time to comfort her in that situation," said Bernard Taylor, an Atlanta lawyer and longtime friend of Sears, now chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and a potential nominee to replace retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David...

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears is on a short list of candidates to replace U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, according to media reports. Souter reportedly will step down in June. Sears, who will also step down in June, has served on the state’s highest court since 1992. The first woman and youngest justice in the court’s history, she was also its first African-American female chief justice. Sears has kept her plans for her retirement private, although she has hinted at wanting a larger public role. Earlier this year Sears was announced as a finalist for Dean...