MONROE - President-elect Barack Obama may have the opportunity to appoint one or more Supreme Court Justices, but he will be able to fill lower federal appeals courts also. Regional appellate courts often have the last work in a case, because the Supreme Court hears only a few cases each year. Obama will make many lower court appointments, which will indicate his intentions and judicial philosophy.

Obama is an alum of the Harvard Law Review, as are Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, Stephen Breyer, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.

Green County District Attorney Gary Luhman said there is now a lot of speculation that the more liberal of the Supreme Court Justices could retire, allowing Barack Obama to replace them with his choices.

But one of the consequences of winning the election is getting to appoint judges and the U.S Attorney, Luhman said.

"Part of the mandate is to appoint people with different priorities," he said.

Supreme Court Justice is a lifetime position. Those who retire remain part-time in the court with senior status, and discuss cases although they do not sit on the bench. Judges on the Federal Court of Appeals rotate as a three-judge panel or larger group.

With both Obama and Chief Justice Roberts as past editors of the Harvard Law Review, Dr. Susan Kinast-Porter, Monroe, believes they will have different ideologies, but similar approaches to the law.

The justices and judges will "weigh the pros and cons of each case," and will be interpreting the Constitution as the writers of the document would have intended it to be in the 21st Century, she said.

Neither Luhman, as chair of the Republican Party in Green County, nor Kinast-Porter, as county chairman of the Democratic Party, expect to see a large swing in the courts or judgments of those courts during Obama's administration.

Three hot issues that are seen pushing their way to the top courts in the nation are abortion, same-sex marriage and gun rights.

ABORTION

Challenges have been made to the Supreme Court decision, which strikes down state laws limiting abortion rights, in the 1973 case of Roe v. Wade. The landmark decision has not been overturned.

In 2003, Congress passed the Partial-Birth Ban Act, which outlaws one type of late-term abortion.

The issue may become a "litmus test," for Supreme Court nominees.

Obama favors abortion rights; he holds a 100 percent pro-abortion right voting record with the National Abortion League.

"I have consistently advocated for reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as president," Obama said early in the campaign.

Carmen Bybee, Monroe, has been a supporter of the Pregnancy Center in Monroe for 20 years, "From what I've heard him say, he's going to appoint all choice judges, and rescind all the things that are to keep abortion from going lower - Everyone has a choice; everything is to be OK. That's not the way we feel. We're killing our babies; we're killing off our next generation."

Bybee noted a Fetus Cookie Cutter offered for $10 on a Web site. The Web site quotes the person who claims to have found inspiration for the cookie cutter a decade ago, and baked them for an old girlfriend. "We were celebrating the 25th anniversary of Roe v. Wade," he said.

"When you can give abortion a day for celebrate killing of babies - even on Christmas cards - it's sad. And the way they talk, the policies will put us back decades. It's a stranglehold," Bybee said.

Luhman said that while "we see a lot of controversy over people protesting" on abortion issues in Green County, "there's not a lot of contention" among most residents in the county. It's a small group of people, he said, that feel so strongly as to publicly promote their views. Until it closed Oct. 20, there were protests at the Planned Parenthood site in Monroe.

Luhman said he is pro-life, not pro-choice.

"I strongly believe there should be more restriction, particularly in the third trimester and partial birth," he said. "In the original Roe v. Wade, the issue was personal rights versus social rights," he said.

Luhman does not expect to see a huge deviation with the new administration, but he thinks the abortion issue will move "more to the center and away from the right."

"Certain procedures were made more difficult or prohibited under the last eight years of Republican control. I think they should be. Partial birth is infanticide, in my opinion," he said.

Luhman would rather see fewer abortions and "more responsibility for conduct."

"Good choice is not the same as freedom of choice. Most choices are not really good choices, in my opinion. They made bad choices to get to that point," he said.

But if abortion ever is to be outlawed, Luhman doesn't expect to see it in the next four to six years.

As a family physician in Green County, Kinast-Porter said she advises abstinence.

"(Women) should have access to safe and reliable methods of birth control and information," she said.

The abortion issue isn't going to be a litmus test for Obama's choices for judges, she said.

"But at the same time, he's known to have the position I just said," Kinast-Porter said.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGES

Efforts have been made to extend legal rights granted to married couples to same-sex couples. Proposals have included granting full marriage rights, civil unions or domestic partnerships, and banning the concept.

Obama opposes a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. He supported the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages and gives states the right to refuse such marriages.

Obama says same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into legal agreements for insurance and similar benefits.

"A lot of states pretty much tie the judges' hands" with passage of bans on gay marriage, Luhman said. It's becoming extremely hard in some states to get equal rights for gays.

"Constitutional amendments get passed because certain groups go against the trend of specific political ideology and vote on an emotional basis," Luhman said.

"It'll be an unmitigated disaster if we have judges who condone homosexuality," Steve Owen, pastor of the Liberty Baptist Church in Monroe, said. "I pray we don't do this."

Owen gives the Bible as the basis for his strong beliefs against gay marriages.

"The Bible says in Genesis 19 that homosexuality is a sin. When you rebel against the Law, God brings down judgment," he said. "The Bible teaches both - the judgment of God for the sin, and God said he's going to judge the nation that condones rebellion."

"No homosexual is a Christian. God will judge those who condone rebellion against him.

Owen used the example in the Old Testament of Sodom and Gomorrah, whose sins brought down fire and brimstone.

"God did that to teach people," he said.

Owen believes Obama will get congressional support for his appointments.

"Yes, it looks like it'll go that way. I pray that it won't," he said.

"The Supreme Court does think marriage has been a states' right issue, so I think Obama, as president, would be unlikely to (change that). I think he's going to pick people who are very thoughtful, in terms of intent," Kinast-Porter said.

"I would expect his judges would not quickly overturn state law," she said.

"I think Obama, as a new administration, would be more likely to look at issues of domestic partnership," she said.

Kinast-Porter said there are thousands of rights at the states' level that are not available at the federal level.

"But domestic partnership should at least get state rights," she said.

Kinast-Porter listed issues of inheritance, hospital visitation of partners and of children of partners, shared health benefits, and co-ownership of houses and cars as just a few rights same-sex partners have trouble getting.

GUNS

The Second Amendment is a controversy over interpretation. Gun right advocates stress that individuals have the right to own firearms without restrictions. Gun control advocates find the amendment gives states the right to keep a militia but may restrict individual ownership of firearms. Congress passed a 10-year ban on the possession of 19 weapons in 1994; the ban was allowed to expire. Other restrictions proposed or passed include mandatory trigger locks, background checks before sale, gun sale limitations, and age limits.

As a state lawmaker in Illinois, Obama supported a ban on all semi-automatic weapons and tighter state restrictions in general on firearms. During his time as a U.S. senator, he voted to leave gun makers and dealers open to lawsuits.

"Wisconsin and Illinois are the two states held up as the most restrictive, particularly with conceal carry prohibition. Illinois has gun registration," Luhman said.

"I don't look for Wisconsin to change. Gun rights are not strongly supported by Governor Doyle. For the next four to six years it'll mainly be status quo. I'm not strong one way or another on conceal-carry. What we have now works pretty well," he said.

"I don't think we could go against owning guns and hunting - hunting is a huge thing in Wisconsin," Kinast-Porter said.

But she isn't supportive of people owning the so-called Saturday night specials, cheap handguns used in crimes. Those weapons are not used in gun and hunting clubs or in marksmanship, she said.

"I think Obama will preserve our hunting rights and find a way to still decrease violent crimes. His will be a very thoughtful and measured administration," Kinast-Porter said.

"They will think things through, not for years, but go over options and debate intelligently and come up with a plan of both pro and con," she said.