CNN: Sources: High court selection process down to finalists

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Story Highlights
# NEW: Justice pick down to finalists, announcement may come by month's end
# President wants nominee confirmed before start of court's next session in October
# President Obama tells Senate leaders he'll name Supreme Court nominee soon
# Nominee will replace retiring Justice David Souter

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The search for a Supreme Court nominee has been trimmed to about half a dozen candidates by top White House officials, and an announcement may come by month's end, two sources close to the selection process tell CNN.

Among the finalists are federal appeals court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Wood, and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak by the White House.

Women make up all but one of the top candidates currently being given serious scrutiny, the sources said.

Also on the list, a source said, was California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno. The 60-year-old Los Angeles, California, native was not among the early favorites mentioned by legal analysts and the media. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs previously hinted some of the names under consideration were under the political radar.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/13/scotus.obama/index.html