Monday, October 03, 2005
Knee Jerk Reactions
Bush nominated Harriet Miers to fill Justice O'Connor's seat on the Supreme Court.
I have to say, when Bush first nominated Roberts, I was almost excited - an absolutely brilliant legal mind whose qualifications were far beyond question. Sure he was a conservative, but at least I can rest assured the some of the most intelligent people in the country will sit in those 9 chairs.
Unfortunately, my initial reaction to Harriet Miers was not nearly so positive. That she is a woman is certainly a boon. The Supreme Court should have multiple perspectives: conservative/liberal, Young/old (usually in the form of clerk/justice), and of course, man/woman. These dichotomies set up some of the most meaningful and stand-out opinions. On the other hand, however, Miers has been a longtime GOP stalwart herself. Though she has contributed to Democratic campaigns in the past, her Republican trackrecord is unmistakable. To boot, she has never held any judgeship. She has been a political professional her whole life holding positions that vary widely in arena and yet are remarkably monochromatic in partisanship. Though the Bush administrations offers its assurances that she will not be a conservative activist judge -- that she will not legislate from the bench, I find it difficult to imagine from someone who has been legislating and active in the other realms of politics for her whole life.
Finally, no one could mention her nomination without also mentioning her loyalty to the Bush family. So strong is this loyalty, that a few news sources have questioned whether it might be stronger than her loyalty to the Supreme Court -- quite a concern for someone who will hold a lifetime appointment.
All in all, I am much more hesitant to be excited for Miers than I was for Roberts. She doesn’t have the experience -- in fact she may have all the wrong experiences, her loyalty may be elsewhere, she is so blatantly partisan it is difficult to imagine her turning that off immediately in the name of judicial fairness. Tune in later as I actually do some research on this one, but if you thought there was little information on Roberts, Miers is almost a vacuum. Let’s see if this is grounds for a filibuster….
I have to say, when Bush first nominated Roberts, I was almost excited - an absolutely brilliant legal mind whose qualifications were far beyond question. Sure he was a conservative, but at least I can rest assured the some of the most intelligent people in the country will sit in those 9 chairs.
Unfortunately, my initial reaction to Harriet Miers was not nearly so positive. That she is a woman is certainly a boon. The Supreme Court should have multiple perspectives: conservative/liberal, Young/old (usually in the form of clerk/justice), and of course, man/woman. These dichotomies set up some of the most meaningful and stand-out opinions. On the other hand, however, Miers has been a longtime GOP stalwart herself. Though she has contributed to Democratic campaigns in the past, her Republican trackrecord is unmistakable. To boot, she has never held any judgeship. She has been a political professional her whole life holding positions that vary widely in arena and yet are remarkably monochromatic in partisanship. Though the Bush administrations offers its assurances that she will not be a conservative activist judge -- that she will not legislate from the bench, I find it difficult to imagine from someone who has been legislating and active in the other realms of politics for her whole life.
Finally, no one could mention her nomination without also mentioning her loyalty to the Bush family. So strong is this loyalty, that a few news sources have questioned whether it might be stronger than her loyalty to the Supreme Court -- quite a concern for someone who will hold a lifetime appointment.
All in all, I am much more hesitant to be excited for Miers than I was for Roberts. She doesn’t have the experience -- in fact she may have all the wrong experiences, her loyalty may be elsewhere, she is so blatantly partisan it is difficult to imagine her turning that off immediately in the name of judicial fairness. Tune in later as I actually do some research on this one, but if you thought there was little information on Roberts, Miers is almost a vacuum. Let’s see if this is grounds for a filibuster….
