Supreme Courts ARE Political

Don't ever let anyone fool you. When a president or a governor fills a court vacancy... and their political party has a majority of votes needed for confirmation... they pick someone from their same political party.

You can cache it as a "liberal" judge or a "conservative" judge, but judges vote just like anyone else. They contribute to campaigns just like anyone else. They belong to political parties just like anyone else.

Governor Jan Brewer will be selecting someone to fill a vacancy left by retiring Arizona Chief Justice Ruth V McGregor. She will select a Republican. This is not good or bad, necessarily. People just need to understand that it is what happens.

The AZ Republic documents this neatly:

...if the appointment records of recent past governors is any indication, Brewer's first choice will be a Republican. That would help the chances of Republicans Pelandar and Timmer. Johnsen is a Democrat.

While Republican Jane Hull included one Democrat - McGregor - among her three Supreme Court appointments, Janet Napolitano picked two fellow Democrats for hers and Republican Fife Symington picked three fellow Republicans.