7 Supreme Court Nominees -- Who Are They?

This post originally appeared on Daily Kos.

No, Sec. of State Clinton is  not on the list.

Who is? The AP has  confirmed seven of them:

President Barack Obama's candidates for the Supreme Court include a new name, federal appeals court Judge Sidney Thomas of Montana, and at least six others who were contenders when Obama chose his first high court nominee last year, The Associated Press has learned.

Among the others under consideration are former Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, federal appeals court judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano....

Thomas, 56, of Billings, Mont., serves on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the largest of the nation's appellate courts. He was nominated to the federal bench in July 1995 by then-President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in January 1996, with no controversy, in a voice vote.

Thomas is a dark horse and as of yet, there hasn't be a lot of analysis of his record. Another new name on this list, Leah Ward Sears, is raising  concern because of her strong support for "traditional" marriage, including a  2006 op-ed in WaPo lauding the work of the Institute for American Values, an organization founded by David Blankenhorn. Blankenhorn was active in the Prop 8 battle in California in 2008, on the Yes side, writing an  op-ed in the LA Times declaring himself a "liberal Democrat" who is opposed to gay marriage.

This doesn't mean that Sears would be a judicial activist for "traditional family values," but her record on equality issues does bear scrutiny as this is likely to be the a key civil rights issue to come to the court in the near future.