Reply #6: Which is why he won't pick an academic, however good a choice [View All]

like Cass Sunstein.


From HUFFPO: Sunstein, a former law professor at Harvard, last year joined the Obama administration as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget. Widely revered in academic circles, he is another serious contender for a spot on the Court.

"Sunstein is probably the most creative and influential legal thinker of the last 20 years," says Chicago Law School Professor Geoff Stone. "He's the most cited law professor in the United States, has been a prolific writer and scholar, has a capacious intellect and would bring to bear an extraordinary knowledge of administrative and constitutional law that would enrich the Court in profound ways."

In the context of a Senate confirmation hearing, however, Sunstein's work -- honest and of staggering scope -- could be easily caricatured.

"He's written freely and speculatively, and so there's no doubt that, if taken out of context, could be seen as out of the mainstream," Stone acknowledges. "But that would be true of any first-rate academic."