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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=3>Supreme Court: Likely candidates
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO -->Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the US Supreme Court and a key swing voter, has retired, setting the stage for a major political battle over her successor. The BBC News website examines some of the likely candidates to succeed her.
ALBERTO GONZALES
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Alberto Gonzales, 49, became US Attorney General in February. He was previously President Bush's chief lawyer at the White House.
He is a long-time Bush ally who played an important role in shaping legal opinions about the treatment of prisoners captured in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He was criticised by some human rights groups after writing a memo to the president in which he said the war against terrorism was a "new kind of war" that rendered obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners. He has also made it clear that he does not approve of torture.
He first became a legal advisor to Mr Bush in 1995, when the president was governor of Texas.
In 1997, Mr Gonzales became Texas Secretary of State, working closely with Mr Bush on legal issues and later became a judge of the Supreme Court in Texas.
He is a former law professor at the University of Houston.
JAMES HARVIE WILKINSON III
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Judge James Harvie Wilkinson of the US Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, is the oldest of the likely contenders at 61.
Judge Wilkinson was nominated to the circuit bench by Ronald Reagan in 1984, and has established a conservative record.
Supporters believe his intellect, experience and gracious manner make him the ideal choice.
In a 1985 book, One Nation Indivisible: How Ethnic Separatism Threatens America, Judge Wilkinson criticised affirmative action and said it was a cause for racial division.
He has had a long affiliation with the Republican Party.
JOHN G ROBERTS
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->John G Roberts, 50, an appeals court judge for the DC circuit, graduated with top honours from Harvard College. He worked as a clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist before serving in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, the current president's father.
In government and in private practice, he went on to earn a reputation as one of the best lawyers to argue before the Supreme Court.
Conservatives will be pleased by his record on abortion, the environment, and church-state issues.
He has argued that religious ceremonies could be part of high-school graduations, a stance the Supreme Court rejected by a vote of 5-4 in 1992.
He was more successful in arguing that government-funded doctors and clinics could not talk to patients about abortion. He has also taken stances against affirmative action.
George W Bush nominated him for his current position in 2003.
J MICHAEL LUTTIG
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->J Michael Luttig, 51, currently on the Fourth Circuit Appeals Court, is considered a rising star in conservative circles. He is seen as an independent thinker with a piercing intelligence and a blunt manner.
Since becoming a judge in 1991, he has not been afraid of making controversial rulings. In 1999, for example, he struck down legislation on domestic violence on the grounds that Congress had overstepped its authority.
Mr Luttig is also seen as fiercely independent, and has criticised other judges in the past for being swayed on ideological grounds rather than judicial argument.
Mr Luttig's father was shot dead in 1994 in a carjacking by juvenile offender Napoleon Beazley. Beazley was later executed in a controversial case which went right up to and split the Supreme Court.
MICHAEL McCONNELL
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Michael McConnell, 50, is a former University of Chicago law professor who was nominated to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver by President Bush in 2001.
More than 300 law professors signed a letter in 2002 endorsing his appellate court confirmation. There were liberals as well as conservatives among them - but there was also strong opposition from groups including the left-leaning People for the American Way Foundation, which called him "dangerous to women's rights".
Described by his supporters as an intellectual powerhouse, Mr McConnell opposes the strict separation of church and state, arguing that religious schools should be allowed to receive direct subsidies. He has also called for a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions, which he has called "evil" - including in cases of rape and incest.
Mr McConnell is also championed by the conservative right for his support for federalism, arguing against the role of central government in protecting civil liberties and working conditions.
SAMUEL ALITO
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Judge Samuel Alito, 55, of the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, is considered a quiet and retiring member federal appeals courts.
The judge, of Italian background, was appointed to the bench in 1990 by the first President George Bush.
In 1991, he voted to uphold all restrictions to abortion in Pennsylvania law, including a requirement that a woman inform her husband that she is seeking an abortion. This was struck down by the Supreme Court in a decision that reaffirmed the landmark Roe v Wade case.
Judge Alito worked in the Reagan administration's Justice Department and became US attorney for New Jersey in 1987, a post he held for three years. He is seen as a staunch conservative.
EMILIO GARZA
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Emilio Garza, 58, is a former Marine captain who was originally considered for a Supreme Court seat in 1991 by the first President Bush.
Appointed a federal judge by President Reagan in 1988, he was elevated to the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Mr Garza is said to be a popular candidate among many of his fellow Hispanics.
But his candidacy will not be welcomed by liberals who fear he is likely to support a change in laws protecting abortion rights.
He has in the past suggested he would vote to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalised abortion.
And he has also suggested that abortion regulation should be decided by state legislatures.
"Ontological issues such as abortion are more properly decided in the political and legislative arenas," he wrote in a 1997 opinion.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4642275.stm
<!-- E BO -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=416><!-- S BO -->Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the US Supreme Court and a key swing voter, has retired, setting the stage for a major political battle over her successor. The BBC News website examines some of the likely candidates to succeed her.
ALBERTO GONZALES
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Alberto Gonzales, 49, became US Attorney General in February. He was previously President Bush's chief lawyer at the White House.
He is a long-time Bush ally who played an important role in shaping legal opinions about the treatment of prisoners captured in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He was criticised by some human rights groups after writing a memo to the president in which he said the war against terrorism was a "new kind of war" that rendered obsolete Geneva's strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners. He has also made it clear that he does not approve of torture.
He first became a legal advisor to Mr Bush in 1995, when the president was governor of Texas.
In 1997, Mr Gonzales became Texas Secretary of State, working closely with Mr Bush on legal issues and later became a judge of the Supreme Court in Texas.
He is a former law professor at the University of Houston.
JAMES HARVIE WILKINSON III
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Judge James Harvie Wilkinson of the US Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, is the oldest of the likely contenders at 61.
Judge Wilkinson was nominated to the circuit bench by Ronald Reagan in 1984, and has established a conservative record.
Supporters believe his intellect, experience and gracious manner make him the ideal choice.
In a 1985 book, One Nation Indivisible: How Ethnic Separatism Threatens America, Judge Wilkinson criticised affirmative action and said it was a cause for racial division.
He has had a long affiliation with the Republican Party.
JOHN G ROBERTS
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->John G Roberts, 50, an appeals court judge for the DC circuit, graduated with top honours from Harvard College. He worked as a clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist before serving in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, the current president's father.
In government and in private practice, he went on to earn a reputation as one of the best lawyers to argue before the Supreme Court.
Conservatives will be pleased by his record on abortion, the environment, and church-state issues.
He has argued that religious ceremonies could be part of high-school graduations, a stance the Supreme Court rejected by a vote of 5-4 in 1992.
He was more successful in arguing that government-funded doctors and clinics could not talk to patients about abortion. He has also taken stances against affirmative action.
George W Bush nominated him for his current position in 2003.
J MICHAEL LUTTIG
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->J Michael Luttig, 51, currently on the Fourth Circuit Appeals Court, is considered a rising star in conservative circles. He is seen as an independent thinker with a piercing intelligence and a blunt manner.
Since becoming a judge in 1991, he has not been afraid of making controversial rulings. In 1999, for example, he struck down legislation on domestic violence on the grounds that Congress had overstepped its authority.
Mr Luttig is also seen as fiercely independent, and has criticised other judges in the past for being swayed on ideological grounds rather than judicial argument.
Mr Luttig's father was shot dead in 1994 in a carjacking by juvenile offender Napoleon Beazley. Beazley was later executed in a controversial case which went right up to and split the Supreme Court.
MICHAEL McCONNELL
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Michael McConnell, 50, is a former University of Chicago law professor who was nominated to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver by President Bush in 2001.
More than 300 law professors signed a letter in 2002 endorsing his appellate court confirmation. There were liberals as well as conservatives among them - but there was also strong opposition from groups including the left-leaning People for the American Way Foundation, which called him "dangerous to women's rights".
Described by his supporters as an intellectual powerhouse, Mr McConnell opposes the strict separation of church and state, arguing that religious schools should be allowed to receive direct subsidies. He has also called for a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions, which he has called "evil" - including in cases of rape and incest.
Mr McConnell is also championed by the conservative right for his support for federalism, arguing against the role of central government in protecting civil liberties and working conditions.
SAMUEL ALITO
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Judge Samuel Alito, 55, of the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, is considered a quiet and retiring member federal appeals courts.
The judge, of Italian background, was appointed to the bench in 1990 by the first President George Bush.
In 1991, he voted to uphold all restrictions to abortion in Pennsylvania law, including a requirement that a woman inform her husband that she is seeking an abortion. This was struck down by the Supreme Court in a decision that reaffirmed the landmark Roe v Wade case.
Judge Alito worked in the Reagan administration's Justice Department and became US attorney for New Jersey in 1987, a post he held for three years. He is seen as a staunch conservative.
EMILIO GARZA
<!-- S IIMA --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- E IIMA -->Emilio Garza, 58, is a former Marine captain who was originally considered for a Supreme Court seat in 1991 by the first President Bush.
Appointed a federal judge by President Reagan in 1988, he was elevated to the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 1991.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Mr Garza is said to be a popular candidate among many of his fellow Hispanics.
But his candidacy will not be welcomed by liberals who fear he is likely to support a change in laws protecting abortion rights.
He has in the past suggested he would vote to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalised abortion.
And he has also suggested that abortion regulation should be decided by state legislatures.
"Ontological issues such as abortion are more properly decided in the political and legislative arenas," he wrote in a 1997 opinion.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4642275.stm
<!-- E BO -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
