Clinton May Seek Safe High Court Pick : Nomination: Sources say Cuomo’s withdrawal could boost the chances of five jurists who are likely to face little public opposition.

The withdrawal of New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo as a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court has increased the chances that President Clinton will fill the post from a group of liberal-to-moderate jurists who likely would face little public opposition, sources said.

The group includes federal judges Amalya L. Kearse, Richard Arnold, Stephanie Seymour and Patricia M. Wald and New York state appeals court Judge Judith S. Kaye, according to White House sources and knowledgeable Democrats.

These candidates, who were on Clinton’s short list when he named his attorney general, “seem to have a clear field at the moment,” said a Democrat with ties to the White House.

But White House aides and Democrats noted that Clinton continues to talk to other people about the job. They said that no candidate has a lock on the job, which will open when Justice Byron R. White retires at the end of the current term.

Cuomo’s withdrawal may make Senate confirmation hearings easier for Clinton and his nominee. Conservative groups had indicated that they would strongly oppose the New York governor, although it is unlikely that they could have blocked his nomination.

In contrast, the five judges reportedly under consideration are not viewed by conservative groups as liberal activists and would not be as likely to provoke the same kind of reaction.

Cuomo, a top contender for the post, withdrew from the running last Thursday in a call to Clinton while the President was traveling to Portland, Ore., aboard Air Force One. The call came three days after Clinton had tried to reach Cuomo by phone in Albany, N.Y., to sound him out about the appointment.

In a letter to Clinton released Wednesday, Cuomo said he wants to work on New York’s economic problems. While his state “is on the way back, it has not yet fully recovered from the punishing national economic decline. . . . I believe I can best serve by working to speed and strengthen that recovery in this state,” he wrote.

“Given the immense amount of talent available to you, including our own superb Chief Judge Judith Kaye, I do not know whether you might indeed have nominated me. But because there has been public speculation concerning the possibility, I think I owe it to you to make clear now that I do not wish to be considered,” he said.

Cuomo’s withdrawal, first reported by the New York newspaper Newsday, stirred speculation that the governor’s aim had been to avoid the embarrassment and harm to his 1994 gubernatorial chances that would come if another candidate were chosen.

But White House sources insisted that this was not the case, contending that Cuomo had commanded a very strong position.

“You’ve got to take him at his word,” said one aide.

Clinton, meanwhile, indicated Wednesday that the press of other business has distracted him from giving the Supreme Court nomination as much attention as he would like.

“Justice White was kind enough to give me a considerable amount of time and, given the economic issues before the Congress and the summit I had with (Russian) President (Boris N.) Yeltsin, I appreciated that because I couldn’t devote immediate time to it,” Clinton said.

But White House sources said they believe that the President still will be able to name his nominee next month. That would give the Senate two full months before its August recess to examine the nomination and hear testimony at confirmation hearings. The next Supreme Court term will begin in October.

White House aides have assembled files of biographical material that, according to one source, include more than 40 names. But White House sources said the material is supplementary and that the real selection is being handled not by aides but by Clinton himself.

An earlier Clinton comment that he wanted to name a figure of national importance had been taken as a sign that the President would like to nominate a national political figure. But White House sources said his intention is to choose someone of national distinction in one of several fields--including the law, politics and academia.

Aides to Clinton and Cuomo, who is 60, noted that the governor ruled himself out of consideration for the current opening but did not rule himself out for future openings.

Times staff writer John J. Goldman in New York contributed to this story.