As soon as news of Justice Stephen Breyer’s impending retirement surfaced, the media’s attention focused on California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger as one of the leading candidates to replace Breyer on the nation’s high court.

It didn’t take long for profiles of Justice Kruger to appear, either about her alone or along with bios of other contenders. Here is a probably incomplete list.

Amy Howe on SCOTUSblog has the most comprehensive profile and the Alliance for Justice has a detailed fact sheet.

Others include: Debra Cassens Weiss in the ABA Journal, Jessica Gresko and Colleen Long for the Associated Press, Sam Baker for Axios, Emily Deruy for Bay Area News Group, the BBC, Derek Major for Black Enterprise, Kimberly Robinson, Greg Stohr, and Madison Alder for Bloomberg, Leslie Jacobs interviewed by Randol White on Capitol Public Radio, Ashton Jackson for CNBC, Dan Avery for CNET, Ariane de Vogue and Tierney Sneed for CNN, Pamela King for E&E News Greenwire, The Forward (Forverts), David Lat, Nick Niedzwiadek for Politico, Cheryl Miller in The Recorder, Andrew Chung for Reuters (I’m quoted in this one), Adam Liptak in the New York Times, David Lightman and Gillian Brassil in the Sacramento Bee, Stuart Emmrich for Vogue, Ian Millhiser for Vox, Jacob Gershman in the Wall Street Journal, Seung Min Kim and Ann Marimow in the Washington Post.

An interesting, for-what-its-worth fact: Seven years ago, Vice-President Harris, then California’s Attorney General, was one of the three members of the Commission on Judicial Appointments who confirmed Kruger’s appointment to the California Supreme Court. Harris will “work closely” with President Biden and “will play a central role” in choosing the nominee.

And don’t forget that At The Lectern has a resource for tracking Justice Kruger’s career since her appointment to the California Supreme Court.

[January 29 update: There’s another profile, in today’s Los Angeles Times by Hannah Wiley.]

[Another January 29 update: And here are some more, one by Stephanie Korney on Jamaicans.com and one by Sheri-Kae McLeod for Caribbean National Weekly.]

[January 31 update: Here are a profile by Elie Mystal in The Nation and a brief video story on KTLA.]

[February 3 update: Joan Biskupic published an excellent, detailed profile of Justice Kruger for CNN. A bunch of pundits at the Washington Post handicapped the leading candidates; Justice Kruger is ranked second, after Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.]

[Another February 3 update: Brian Melley has an extended profile for the Associated Press. (I’m quoted in it.) It raises the interesting question whether Justice Kruger even wants to be nominated. Former Court of Appeal Justice (and Legal Affairs Secretary to Governor Jerry Brown during Brown’s first two terms over 40 years ago) J. Anthony Kline is reported as saying, “the one thing he’s not sure of is how interested Kruger is in following in [U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul] Stevens’ footsteps. [Kruger clerked for Stevens.] She has a big family in California, her husband works at a San Francisco law firm, and they have two young kids and a house they love.” Also, Justice Kruger turned down, twice, President Biden’s request that she serve as U.S. Solicitor General. (See here and here.) Finally, by most accounts, the California Supreme Court provides a much more collegial work environment than the U.S. high court.]

[Third February 3 update: SCOCAblog has a very detailed analysis: “a substantive review of all decisions in our dataset, and two separate quantitative analyses of the opinions and votes we compiled.”]

[Fourth February 3 update: Bob Egelko writes in the San Francisco Chronicle.]

[Fifth February 3 update: Ryan Grim says on HillTV that Justice Kruger “may side with the [U.S.] Supreme Court’s pro-business wing, should she be nominated and confirmed.”]

[February 4 update: Cheryl Miller in The Recorder has “As SCOTUS Speculation Swirls, Leondra Kruger’s Colleagues Sing Her Praises.” In the article: “[Chief Justice Tani] Cantil-Sakauye said that, after the remote [oral argument] proceedings ended Wednesday, she told Kruger that the other justices might as well be wearing ‘Team Kruger’ T-shirts under their robes. Kruger laughed, Cantil-Sakauye said, but said nothing about the speculation that surrounds her.”]

[Second February 4 update: Dan Morain writes in the Washington Post, “This consensus-building Californian deserves a spot on Biden’s Supreme Court short list.”]

[February 5 update: David Carrillo and Brandon Stracener promote Justice Kruger’s candidacy (again) in The Recorder: “Justice Kruger Has the Right Stuff.”]

[February 7 update:

Shawn Hubler and Katie Benner have an extended profile in the New York Times: “California’s Supreme Court Was Split. Leondra Kruger Found the Center.” They write that Justice Kruger “has forged a reputation as one of the most influential voices on the highest court in the nation’s most populous state” who “could become not only the first Black female justice [on the U.S. Supreme Court], but also a mediating force on an institution notable for its polarization.”

There’s also a report by Samuel Benson for Politico about what might be called an attempted anti-profile: “A former law clerk for a potential Supreme Court nominee [Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson] embarked on a Wikipedia editing spree over the past week, bolstering the page of his former boss while altering the pages of her competitors [including Justice Kruger] in an apparent attempt to invite liberal skepticism, according to a statement from his fellow clerks.”]

[February 9 update: Former staffers sing Justice Kruger’s praises. Her former supervising attorney, Greg Wolff, on CNN: “Why this California judge should be Biden’s Supreme Court pick.” Wolff writes that Justice Kruger “is a highly intelligent, thoughtful, hardworking person who treats each person, no matter their station in life, with dignity and respect.” Meanwhile, former Kruger clerk Jacob Shelly shares on Twitter the endorsement letter he sent to the White House.]

[Second February 9 update:

Lawrence O’Donnell has a video profile on MSNBC, which includes a discussion with Berkeley Law Professor Amanda Tyler.

Robert Barnes in the Washington Post and John Gallagher for LGBTQNation write that, if nominated, Justice Kruger will face questions about her argument, as an attorney in the Solicitor General’s office, before the U.S. Supreme Court in a freedom of religion case.

Ed Whelan writes in National Review, “Why Biden Will Not Nominate Leondra Kruger.” That’s his opinion despite also saying, Justice Kruger “strikes me as markedly the best of the candidates in legal acumen and the one most likely to have greatest liberal influence on the legal culture.”

In the Washington Blade, Chris Johnson has, “What to expect on LGBTQ issues if one of these Black women is named to Supreme Court.” The article doesn’t mention Justice Kruger’s declining to vote for rehearing in Johnson v. Department of Justice (2015) 60 Cal.4th 871 (see here).

Greg Stohr in Bloomberg Law — “Biden’s Top Contenders for the Supreme Court: How They Compare.”

For Insider, Camila DeChalus looks at “the personal finances of Joe Biden’s possible Supreme Court nominees.”]

[February 13 update:

Margie Delao and Sofia Hay for National Women’s Law Center: “The Supreme Court Nominee Shortlist: Nothing Short of Impressive.”]

The Sports Geek has “Betting Odds for the Next Supreme Court Justice Nominee.”]

[February 15 update:

Nina Totenberg on NPR.

New Civil Liberties Alliance has an analysis of potential nominees “based primarily on their views of the administrative state.”]

[February 17 update: Profile of Justice Kruger discusses her reticence to grant a rehearing.]

[February 19 update:

Geoff Bennett on PBS has a video report, including an endorsement from Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye — Justice Kruger is “immensely talented and is the right pick for this position.”

David Lat writes in his Original Jurisdiction publication on Substack, “President Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee: The Case For Kruger.” It is subtitled, “Judges Jackson and Childs have gotten more attention, but don’t count out Justice Kruger—who might be the president’s best bet.”

The National Immigration Law Center provides “The SCOTUS Shortlist and Immigration: What Their Previous Rulings Reveal.”]

[February 23 update: Monica Dunn for ABC News: “Who is Leondra Kruger, a possible SCOTUS nominee?”]

[Second February 23 update: Scott Shafer for KQED: “How California Judge Leondra Kruger Rose to Be on Biden’s Supreme Court Short List.”]

[Third February 23 update: The Sacramento Bee editorializes, “The case for Leondra Kruger: Why Biden should put the Californian on the U.S. Supreme Court.”]