Prado for Supreme Court Justice?

With lawyers and policy wonks everywhere buzzing about the impending retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, the big question is, who will replace him on the nation's highest court?

Right now, the leading candidates include Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm--but there are plenty of other names floating around.

However, there's also one local whose name has been discussed before: Fifth Circuit Judge Ed Prado.

Law Professor Orin Kerr notes over at the Volokh Conspiracy that four years ago a liberal group tried to get President Bush to nominate Judge Prado to the Supreme Court:

With the news that Justice Souter is retiring, and with thoughts turning to his possible successor, I'm reminded of the "independent grassroots campaign" -- headed by a group of liberal activists -- that received some attention in 2005 to urge the President to nominate Fifth Circuit Judge Ed Prado for the Supreme Court.

I admit I was dubious about the effort back in 2005. But I've been thinking about it a lot in last 4 years -- or at least in the last 4 minutes, since learning that Souter is going to retire -- and I think it's high time to take that campaign seriously.

Unfortunately, the old movement and Prof. Kerr's post both seem more like wishful thinking and trying to score political points than an actual desire to see Judge Prado move to Washington. Still, it would be nice if he ends up in the running.