Reliable Source -- Rehnquist to Step Down - Bush to Nominate Michael McConnell (10th Circuit Judge)

In The Agora Weblog ^ | 06-03-05 | cww

[dd5339]

Well it sounds like his views on abortion are good. I wonder what his views are like on the Second Amendment?

Semper Fi

[NeoCaveman]

It will be tough for PFAW, NARAL, and their ilk to defeat McConnell without help from the liberal law professor network. This is one instance where the elitism of that crowd actually works in our favor ("Well, McConnell may be conservative, but at least he is one of us"--that's the mentality of the law profs).

That is good "strategery".

If the Dems were rational (and they are not) they'd hold their fire for the O'Conner replacement. As replacing Renquist with a conservative doesn't change the balance. Of course the Dems don't appear rational.

[CWW]

Bingo. -- Strategery Lives!

[bvw]

Janet Rodgers Brown.

So much better than another milquetoast.

[So Cal Rocket]

I agree... the Dems have won the battle over the Supreme Court.

The Dems won't let us nominate a black: so Brown is out.
The Dems won't let us nominate an Hispanic: So Estrada is out.
The Dems won't let us nominate a Catholic: So Pryor is out.
The Dems won't let us nominate a woman: so Owens is out.

The only names I'm now hearing being seriously considered are white, male, non-Catholics.

[hobbes1]

No, It isnt. This guy...Could be dangerous Unshackled.

Stevens, Souter.....Before you all get on board with this, I strongly Urge you to go back to SCOFLAW, Bush v. Gore, Read Chief Justice Wells dissent in that case, and consider what McConnell is suggesting.

[CWW]

A lot of conservatives disagree with the Supreme Court's prevailing liberal interpretation of the equal protection clause -- even when we like the result. But we want judges who are consistent and not result oriented. Otherwise, we get what we have -- 5 justices who can be swayed by the prevailing popular sentiment of the day.

[hobbes1]

No. As I said, THe ruling cannot be properly understood, outside the light of the Dissent from SCOFLA.

Wells all but points out every single reason that exists weighs against what the Court is ruling.

7-2, agreed on the Equal Protection ground, not 5.

Breyers,Souter (and McConnell) decided that letting the inmates run the asylum a little longer was the way to go,

But the remaining 5, may have hung their hat on the necessary peg, but it was clear that they felt Wells reasoning, and over taccusations of a runaway court were correct.

[sladilard]

I agree. The majority opinion in Bush v. Gore, IMHO, is extremely questionable. The concurrence signed off on by Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas, on the other hand, was brilliant. It should have been the majority opinion.

Look, y'all have to understand that the role of a law professor is different than that of a judge. How one approaches as a legal question as a law professor is not always going to mirror what he would do as a judge. Professors, unlike judges, have the luxury of being purists. For example, does anyone believe for one minute that Scalia, Rehnquist, and Thomas fully embrace the reasoning of the majority opinion in BvG? Of course not. But they signed off on it because it was the only way to get O'Connor and Kennedy on board, and because they knew that the decision was the correct one (even if the reasoning was deeply flawed).

[CWW]

Feddie -- you are exactly right. But for the need to pull Kennedy and O'Conner into the fold, Scalia would have given Souter & Co. short shrift.

[CWW]

I have to get back to work -- I actually have a reply brief due today in federal court.

Fortunately, I don't have to sway the court with sentiment, but rather, compelling logic and legal analysis!

C'Ya!

[Williams]

I stand educated.

[JCEccles]

God help us if he's another Souter

McConnell doesn't appear at all to be another Souter. Although I didn't study under him at the University of Utah (I was before before his tenure) I know attorneys who did (and also attorneys who have argued before him on the 10th Circuit). They describe him as possessing a razor-sharp, no-nonsense style, a fearless conservative who takes pains to call them exactly as he sees them.

He would be a superb choice, I think.