NEW WOMAN IN TOWN? – AT 9:40 A.M. ET:  ABC News reports a new candidate added to the short list of possible Supreme Court nominees to replace Justice Stevens:

Last Friday we told you that President Obama's short list of possible nominees to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the US Supreme Court contains fewer than 10 names.

We told you that 7th circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Wood, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, DC Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano are on the short, list -- and now we've learned another.

Former Georgia Supreme Court chief justice Leah Ward Sears is also on the short list, a senior White House official tells ABC News.

Sears, who will turn 55 in June, was the first female African-American chief justice in US history, and when nominated for the state supreme court by then-Gov. Zell Miller in 1992, she became the first woman and the youngest person to ever sit on the court.

She stepped down from the court last year and currently practices law at Schiff Hardin.

A graduate of Emory University Law School, Sears was on President Obama’s short list last year. A member of the left-leaning American Constitution Society, she is also a friend of conservative Justice Clarence Thomas.

COMMENT:  We hope that Justice Thomas has influenced her more than has the American Constitution Society.

April 12, 2010