[JURIST] With many predicting a retirement announcement from current Chief Justice William Rehnquist [CNN profile] when the US Supreme Court's current term ends June 27, advisors to President Bush are said to be concentrating on three possible replacements: Judge John Roberts of the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals [profile], Judge J. Micheal Luttig [Wikipedia profile] of the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and perhaps US Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales [DOJ profile]. While Roberts and Luttig are both seen as solidly conservative and therefore likely to prompt a confirmation showdown with Democrats, Gonzales is seen as more of a centrist on issues like abortion and affirmative action and could have an easier time being confirmed, although he himself ran into some Democratic opposition at his AG confirmation hearings because of his involvement as White House Counsel in the writing of memos that appeared to sanction torture of prisoners. A Gonzales nomination, however, might put the President at risk of alienating some of his conservative political base. The Washington Post has more.