Source: 3 on short list if Justice Stevens retires

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration, contemplating the possible retirement of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, is focusing on three candidates to succeed him, a White House official familiar with the deliberations said.

The group includes U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appellate judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Stevens, who will turn 90 on April 20, told the New Yorker magazine in March that he will decide soon whether to step down. He hasn't told the White House his intentions, the person said.

President Barack Obama hasn't begun discussing specific replacements with aides, so the list of the presumed leading candidates could change in the coming weeks, the person said.

"We'll be prepared if a vacancy arises, but there's no vacancy on the court, and there's no short list awaiting a potential vacancy," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said in an e-mail.

White House officials expect that any retirement announcement would come after the high court hears its last argument this term, on April 28, the person said. The administration is preparing to move quickly with a nomination, the person said.