Oboe-playing judicial artist Diane Wood eyed for Supreme Court
Diane Wood and her colleagues on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago have philosophical differences. That didn't stop Judge Richard Posner, the court's most outspoken conservative, from officiating her wedding when she married for the third time in 2006.
Wood has demonstrated a willingness to challenge her fellow jurists without offending, say lawyers and clerks who have observed her in court. Those attributes may be an asset as President Barack Obama considers her to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on an often-divided U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1995, Wood persuaded Posner and other jurists to rethink the case of an Indiana inmate fighting his death sentence when she asked whether anyone properly warned him about repeated federal challenges. "Silence can mislead," Posner later wrote, reversing an earlier opinion joined by fellow judge Frank Easterbrook.
"That was an example of the art of judging," said Tom Brown, a former clerk for Wood who is a San Francisco lawyer. "She asked the question in a way not to embarrass Judge Easterbrook."
While Wood's opinions supported abortion rights and separation of church and state, her rulings on business matters aren't easy to pigeonhole.
A 2000 decision favored Ameritech Corp. in a lawsuit filed by consumers. Just days later, she upheld a Federal Trade Commission finding that Toys 'R' Us Inc. improperly tried to use its market power to keep the most popular toys out of warehouse- style discount stores.
"She may lean toward the liberal side on social issues," said Jeffrey Sarles, a partner at Chicago-based Mayer Brown LLP who appeared before Wood on her first day on the bench. "On business issues, she doesn't seem ideological. "
Groups such as the Washington-based Judicial Crisis Network, which opposed the nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor and supported that of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, remain skeptical.
"Her views on abortion are far outside mainstream legal thought," said Carrie Severino, the network's chief counsel. And "she's shown a consistent hostility toward religious litigants."
Wood, 59, who plays oboe in the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra, was one of four people interviewed by Obama last year before he picked Sotomayor.
"She was sorry that she didn't get it, but understood that she had done well in the process," said Martha Nussbaum, a fellow University of Chicago law professor who traveled with Wood to India in 2008. "She was very happy about her rapport with the president."
Wood, through her staff, said she isn't commenting on her reported candidacy.
Her consideration isn't based on any significant relationship with Obama.
"They wouldn't have been that close," said Douglas Baird, a University of Chicago law professor who helped recruit Obama. "She would be in and out in a way that would keep them from having leisurely cups of coffee."
Obama arrived at the school as a lecturer in 1992; a year before, Wood took a leave of absence to work in the antitrust division of the U.S. Justice Department. She had previously served in the department as a special assistant during President Ronald Reagan's second term.
In comments last week, Obama stressed his interest in a justice with a "keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people."
Wood, who raised three children, once noticed that a newborn belonging to one of her clerks was jaundiced and insisted on undressing the child in her chambers.
"She said, 'let's get that kid in the light,'" recalled Brown, the former clerk. "She played the experienced mom to the newborn parents."
Her interest in how the law affects people's lives carries over to the bench, according to lawyers who have appeared before her.
"She's particularly interested in the implications of her decisions," Sarles said.
When President Bill Clinton nominated Wood to the appellate court in 1995, Wood said she would respect court precedent.
"My personal views are of no importance," she said in answer to a question from the late Senator Paul Simon, Democrat of Illinois.
Wood, who turns 60 in July, would be among the older recent judges nominated. Of the last 12 justices to join the court, only Ruth Bader Ginsburg had already turned 60.
"Diane can cram more into a day than anyone I know," said Judy Lenox, Wood's older sister and a lawyer in Texas.
Her rulings on social issues have drawn criticism from religious freedom advocates and groups that oppose abortion.
In 2002, Wood dissented in a 2-1 decision upholding an Indiana law requiring women seeking abortions to wait 18 hours after consulting with a physician. Her two male colleagues on the panel "failed to focus on the women for whom that statute will create problems," she said.
In a case that divided the appeals court in 2006, she dissented from a ruling that said a Christian student organization at the Southern Illinois University's law school that denied membership to gays was entitled recognition as an official campus organization.
Born on the 4th of July, 1950, Wood, the second of three children, spent most of her childhood in Westfield, New Jersey.
She moved with her family to Houston when she was 15. Wood graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in English in 1971 and four years later from the same university's law school.
She served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
Her husband is Dr. Robert Sufit, a neurology professor at Northwestern University who contributed $2,250 to Obama's presidential campaign.
Wood speaks French, German and some Russian. She enjoys jigsaw puzzles and has played the oboe and English horn for roughly two decades in the local bar association orchestra.
"She doesn't act like who she is," said David Katz, the group's music director. "She is completely down to earth."
Those closest to Wood say she is hopeful about her chances while recognizing court vacancies are rare.
"She's really pretty grounded," said Lenox, her sister, "and understands that this is like being hit by lightning."