WASHINGTON, July 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says although no has no preference, he'd like to see a politician on the Supreme Court.
Specter said the committee could begin hearings on a nominee to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in late August, but hearings would most likely begin in September. The court starts its term the first Monday in October.
Specter said he'll make no recommendation to President Bush, but he'd prefer someone with a good educational and professional background and good character.
"I have decided to stay out of it. I think that I could do my job as chairman best if I do not make a recommendation," Specter said on "Fox News Sunday." "I have expressed the view that it would be useful, in my judgment, to have somebody on the court who does not come from the graduates of the courts of appeals."
Specter said the court that handed down Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 was made up of an ex-governor, three ex-senators, two attorneys general, a solicitor general, a professor and somebody from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"I think it would be useful to have somebody with more breadth of experience," Specter said.
