In oral arguments yesterday, Judge Diane Wood "dominated" questioning in an appeal alleging religious discrimination. As I posted earlier this week, Wood – widely rumored to be on President Obama's short list to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Souter- was the dissenting judge in the panel that ruled prior yesterday's hearing of the entire 7th Circuit. (In a bit of encouraging news I didn't know, the Chicago Tribune reports that the Justice Department agrees with Wood's assessment that the Fair Housing Act applies and sent attorneys to the hearing.) Apparently, the current public scrutiny she is receiving did not make her reticent about asking questions.
Possible U.S. Supreme Court pick Diane P. Wood asked more than 30 questions in 70 minutes and showed no inclination to dodge controversy at an unusual eight-judge hearing on a Jewish family's claim they were victims of religious discrimination.
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Wood brushed aside claims by the association that it took down the mezuzah merely to enforce a rule barring extraneous objects from the building's halls.The mezuzah was removed "because of its religious significance and not simply because somebody had a fetish for clean doors," Wood said.
She scoffed at the notion that the federal fair housing law applies only in the sale of residences — not to building rules that govern how condos are run.
[UPDATE: 2 links and a thought. You can listen to the oral argument here, (via Religion Clause). Also, I'm not making any predictions, but considering that the President has made a point of saying that empathy will be a major qualification in his Supreme Court consideration, sticking up for Lynne Bloch's mezuzah would seem to count as an example, no? Tony Mauro also quotes from Justice Harry Blackmun's praise for his former clerk.]
