Indian-American Judge Could be Appointed to US Supreme Court

Could an Indian born American judge become the next appointee in the US Supreme Court?

One possible contender to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the US Supreme Court is an Indian-American appeals court judge, Sri Srinivasan, who has pro-business credentials and a stellar resume. If he was nominated his background may make it more politically challenging for Republicans as they plan to block anyone put forward by President Barack Obama.

Srinivasan, 48, has served on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since he was confirmed on a 97-0 bipartisan vote in the US Senate in May 2013. Republican senators who supported him then would likely be asked to justify why they couldn’t back him for the Supreme Court.

Many names are likely under consideration and the White House has not tipped its hand, but recent Supreme Court appointments have tended to be appeals court judges and the appeals court in Washington on which Srinivasan serves has often been a springboard to the high court. Scalia himself served on the court, as did other Supreme Court members Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The White House said on Sunday that Obama will wait until the US Senate is back in session before making a nomination. The Senate returns from recess on 22 February.

Republicans have called for Scalia’s seat to remain open so that the next president, who would take office in January 2017, can nominate a replacement. Other judges Obama could consider appointing include Paul Watford, a black man who serves on the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, and Jacqueline Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American woman who serves on the same court as Watford.

Little is known about Srinivasan’s views on divisive social issues like abortion and affirmative action. But as a senior Justice Department lawyer in 2013, he was part of the legal team that successfully urged the high court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that restricted the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples for the purposes of federal benefits. The ruling helped pave the way for the court’s ruling in June 2015 that legalized gay marriage nationwide.

Srinivasan could not be reached for comment.

Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, India and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, where his father was a professor at the University of Kansas. If appointed, he would be the first Indian-American to serve on the Supreme Court.

He played basketball in high school and then attended Stanford for undergraduate, business and law degrees, yet never lost his allegiance to the University of Kansas Jayhawks. That was a theme of the judicial dignitaries that saluted him at his 2013 investiture for the appeals court, as was the fact that when he was an advocate before the Supreme Court, he carried in his pockets for good luck the socks his twin son and daughter wore when they were newborns.

(This copy has been edited for brevity.)