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Supreme Court nominee may not be judge

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- President Bush is considering "all kinds of people," and not just those already wearing judicial robes in his search for a new U.S. Supreme Court justice.

"Would I be willing to consider people who had never been a judge?" Bush asked Wednesday. "The answer is, you bet. We're considering all kinds of people -- judges, non-judges."

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The New York Times reported Thursday such a move would be more in the historical tradition of the Supreme Court nominee.

Of current members of the court, only Chief Justice William Rehnquist had never been a judge before joining the high court. Of the 108 people who have been Supreme Court justices, 48 were sitting judges when elevated to the nation's highest court. Some 25 others were practicing lawyers and two were law professors while the rest were in some level of government service, the Times said.

Bush is looking of a replacement for Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who said she would leave the court once a replacement is found.

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