No sooner did U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter announce his plans to retire from the nation’s highest court at the end of the term next month than did speculation on his replacement sweep Washington. Both Yale and Harvard make appearances on the short list published by The Washington Post today.

The Post named Harold Hongju Koh, the Yale Law School dean who was nominated earlier this spring to be the legal advisor to the State Department, but cautioned that since that nomination has come under fire by conservatives who oppose his views on international influence on U.S. law, a Supreem Court bid would be similarly embattled. Meanwhile, Elena Kagan, the former dean of Harvard Law School who was confirmed as solicitor general in March, was already considered a top choice for Obama’s first Supreme Court nomination when the President picked her for solicitor general.

Also on the list was Judge Sonia Sotomayor LAW ’79 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, who would be the first Hispanic on the Court and who sided with the city of New Haven in the firefighter’s discrimination case now facing the Supreme Court.