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White House lawyers are scouring a life's worth of information about President Barack Obama's potential picks to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court — and not all of it is about the law.
Prospective justices are put through the nation's most thorough background check, an invasive process in which nothing is off-limits. After all, a surprise dredged up later could scuttle confirmation. So candidates' taxes, writings, childhood, business dealings, medical history and yes, love lives, are all scrutinized for potential red flags.
Many of the answers given in private interviews with the White House will remain private — at least for a while. Answers given in response to Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaires tend to be made public in short order, although some remain confidential.
Artemus Ward, a professor of political science at Northern Illinois University and expert on the United States Supreme Court, joined us LIVE on GDC to talk about the huge battle over who will replace Scalia.