Lecturer and founder of SCOTUSblog.com Thomas Goldstein is quoted in the following article about the prospect of Obama appointing a third U.S. Supreme Court justice. The Daily Record Newswire reports:

President Barack Obama has already done what few other presidents have in less than two years in office: appointed two U.S. Supreme Court justices.

But if Obama gets the chance to appoint a third justice, chances are he will turn to a candidate that was already on his short list the first two times around: D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland.

Experts say Garland is the model nominee for a president facing a politically discordant time: someone who is smart, yet uncontroversial.

"He is acknowledged by all to be brilliant," said Tom Goldstein, Supreme Court litigator for Akin Gump and founder of SCOTUSblog.com. "His opinions avoid unnecessary, sweeping pronouncements," and of everyone on Obama's short list, Garland is "least likely to prompt a polarizing confirmation fight."