
 |
|
February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Oct. 7, 2005
/ 4 Tishrei, 5766
What qualifies one for the Supreme Court?
By
Jonathan Turley
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
In his announcement of the nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers
to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court, President Bush concluded
with a simple and direct statement to Congress: "I ask the Senate to review
her qualifications thoroughly and fairly and to vote on her nomination
promptly."
On its face, it seems straightforward enough. Like the president, most
senators speak of "qualifications" as if the term is self-defining or
obvious. Yet, after more than 200 years, neither the Senate nor law
professors have agreed on what constitutes a "qualification" for the
nation's highest court. Indeed, looking over the past 157 nominations (and
42 unsuccessful nominations since 1789), there is little consensus on what
constitutes a truly qualified person to sit on the court.
Most nominees, like new Chief Justice John Roberts, do not face such
questions after years of prominent legal roles, including service on a prior
court. Miers, however, has one of the slimmest resumes in history for a
Supreme Court nominee. A graduate of Southern Methodist University Law
School, Miers spent most of her career as a commercial lawyer in Texas. She
served as the chairperson of the Texas Lottery Commission and a member of
the Dallas City Council. Besides dispensing oversized lottery checks, her
most notable resume item is her friendship with President Bush serving as
his personal lawyer, staff secretary and later his White House counsel.
Just how good?
To say that Miers is unqualified is not to say that she is without
qualifications as a lawyer. Rather, the question is whether a lawyer must
have an outstanding background to justify one of nine seats on the highest
court. Miers spent decades in the law without making a substantive
contribution to the development of it.
Indeed, in addition to her friendship with the president, Miers' lack of a
record to review (and criticize) is viewed as one of her greatest strengths:
a type of no-qualification qualification.
Not surprisingly, presidents often minimize the role of the Senate in
reviewing their nominees: demanding deference from the Senate for any
nominee with a respectable, if not respected, background who does not
publicly proclaim an intent to run amok as a judicial activist.
For their part, the Democrats appear unable to offer a single coherent
thought on these nominations, let alone a coherent definition of
qualifications. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, has left many
people scratching their heads in recent weeks as he randomly proposed names
of everyone but Cher for the court. In addition to Miers, Reid recommended
various Republican colleagues for the court despite their support for
legislation previously denounced by Democrats as abusive and
unconstitutional.
Yet, qualifications have been an issue in past nominations. In 1970,
President Nixon nominated Judge G. Harrold Carswell for the court. While he
had served on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Carswell was
immediately attacked for his less-than-stellar resume (as well as alleged
anti-civil rights views). Described as a "dull graduate of the third-best
law school in the state of Georgia," witnesses chided Carswell's lack of any
scholarly articles or notable opinions. Pro-Carswell Sen. Roman Hruska, of
Nebraska, did not help matters when he defended the nominee by declaring,
"Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and
lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a
little chance?"
Apparently, the mediocre lobby was, well, mediocre. Carswell was defeated by
a vote of 45-51.
Resisting cronyism
If qualifications for the court are debatable, one disqualification has long
been recognized. Though Alexander Hamilton generally encouraged deference to
a president's choice, he stressed that the Senate should reject nominees who
are the product of cronyism. Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers that a
president should be "ashamed and afraid to bring forward ... candidates who
had no other merit than that ... of being ... personally allied to him, or
of possessing the necessary insignificance and pliancy to render them the
obsequious instruments of his pleasure."
Miers' nomination has widely raised outcries of cronyism, a practice that
has long been out of favor for the esteemed court. Few have seriously argued
that Miers would be on the short list, let alone the nominee, for the court
on the basis of merit. The primary objection to Miers has nothing to do with
her likely voting record, but whether it is true, as the president insisted
in a rare Rose Garden defense this week, that she was "the best person I
could find." Leading conservatives have refused to accept that claim and
denounced the nomination quite vocally.
Their anger is understandable.
This was the moment that conservatives had long waited for. For the first
time in decades, the court will have a stable conservative majority. This
nomination was expected to herald in a type of conservative renaissance on
the court, crafting a new bold vision in legal areas long arrested by 5-4
divisions on the court. With Chief Justice Roberts, Bush had the ability to
appoint the conservative equivalents to Oliver Wendell Holmes and Louis
Brandeis gifted legal intellects who could bring depth and breadth to the
court's new vision. Instead, Bush chose someone of greater personal than
historical significance.
The question is now whether the Senate is capable of meeting Hamilton's test
in resisting a nomination offered primarily for a president's pleasure. It
seems more likely that the dream of a judicial conservative renaissance will
succumb to a combination of blind loyalty and presidential whim. Let no one
say qualifications do not matter. In securing this questionable
confirmation, Bush will be remembered by many as a myopic president who
could not see a legacy waiting just beyond his small circle of friends.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jonathan Turley is a law professor at George Washington University.
Click here to visit his website. Comment by clicking here.
ARCHIVES
© 2005, Jonathan Turley
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Tony Blankley
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

Mr. Know-It-All
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|