After weeks of speculation that Obama may name a federal court outsider to the Justice Stevens' Supreme Court vacancy, insiders have it on good account that the nominee may be even more "outside" than anticipated. Although this blogger didn't believe it at first, an administrative source speaking on condition of anonymity indicated that Obama is "about 75% likely" to appoint Lyle Sweatman to the nation's highest court.
Most readers won't be familiar with Lyle Sweatman, a young and mostly reclusive man. Sweatman is a famed recluse and has avoided the public eye. Photographs of him are hard to come by, but this photograph is believed either to a photograph of him, or one taken by him during an outing that began as a fishing expedition and ended with the capture of 7 pirates and $1 million dollars worth of recovered booty.
Although not all tales about Sweatman's life are believed to be so extraordinary, he has had a sensational legal career thus far. Lyle Sweatman passed the California bar examination before going to law school, a degree that he finished in less than a single year. Sweatman has rarely argued before the Supreme Court, however, it is rumored that he has submitted nearly 100 amicus briefs, and has never submitted a brief for the losing side.
Depending on who you ask, Sweatman is either a die-hard originalist or a radical "judicial activist." It has long been rumored that Sweatman is close friends with Justices Thomas and Justice Stevens, and he once dated Elena Kagan and Diane Wood at the same time. His likely appointment comes as no surprise to the most ardent court-watchers. To the rest of us, though, this is quite a shock.
We knew Obama wanted to choose someone he wouldn't have any trouble confirming. We just didn't know it would be Lyle Sweatman.
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