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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett is the odds-on favorite to be President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court.
So says an offshore gambling website that has installed Barrett as the leading choice among a field of more than two dozen candidates. BetDSI Sportsbook’s proposition on Trump’s SCOTUS pick gives Barrett odds of +250, meaning a $10 wager would pay $25 if she is the nominee.
Barrett, a Trump appointee to the 7th Circuit who joined the appellate bench in November, is viewed as having many of the qualities Trump is seeking in a justice, particularly her age. Trump has said he wants to appoint a justice who is smart, young and tough who will serve for decades. Many believe Barrett, 46, is likely to be his choice.
“The stars are aligning for her,” Faegre Baker Daniels partner and federal court practitioner Brian Paul told Indiana Lawyer last week after Kennedy announced his retirement.
The 20-year-old Costa Rica-based BetDSI site runs numerous wagering propositions on questions of public concern, and its SCOTUS odds reflect the conventional wisdom of who Trump is considering as his nominee. Second choice to Barrett is D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh at +350, followed by Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Hardiman at +500. Also among the favorites are two judges from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals — Raymond Kethledge, +800, and Amul Thapar, who also is a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, at +1,000.
Judge Diane Sykes, from Barrett’s 7th Circuit, also is on the President’s list of potential nominees. She was seen as a potential Supreme Court nominee when George W. Bush was in the White House. The Wisconsin native was apparently among the four candidates that Trump interviewed in January 2017 for Antonin Scalia’s seat, according to CNN, but her star is now not as bright, according to BetDSI. Her odds of her being the next nominee are +3,000.
But gamblers looking beyond the prominently mentioned SCOTUS candidates have several choices in the pool. A $10 wager on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for instance, would pay $1,000 if he were chosen. If that’s not rich enough, TV judges Joe Brown and Judge Judy would return $2,500. If you think Trump might keep the SCOTUS pick in the family, a $10 wager on daughter Ivanka Trump would be worth $25,000, or $50,000 if he picks Donald Trump Jr. Richer still, your $10 bet on Kanye West to be nominated to the Supreme Court could be worth $100,000.
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