Posted on 03/01/2007 5:04:05 PM PST by jeltz25
A list provided by Bush's office indicates that he has appointed 99 individuals through Nov. 19, 1999.
Bush's record on judicial appointments is furthered beclouded by the plaudits it has garnered from strange bedfellows. In a recent article in The American Prospect, for example, liberal Harvard Law School Prof. Randall Kennedy wrote that Bush had made appointments "that even liberal observers have applauded. He has elevated to the bench highly competent, middle-of-the-road attorneys who are well respected by the state bar."
A group funded by plaintiffs' tort lawyers claims Bush's Supreme Court appointees have had a "moderating" effect. State bar president Lynne Liberato echoed this view, saying that "Bush appointees are pulling the court toward the middle of the road." On the other hand, a major business association has said that the state high court is a "fair forum."
Bush's record of appointing judges in Texas suggests he will appoint more cautious judges than constitutionalist ones, more O'Connors than Scalias. One analyst made an observation repeated elsewhere by others: "Bush;s judicial picks are not extreme... [They] don't carry an ideological flag with them to the bench." Tom Pauken, former chairman of the Texas Republican Party, calls Bush's appointments "a mixed bag" and says, "I would not have confidence that we might not see another David Souter on the Supreme Court in a Bush presidency."
The Texas Journal identifies Bush appointees as the most liberal and most conservative members of the Texas Supreme Court. Justice Deborah Hankinson, reports the Journal, "has written some of the court's most liberal opinions" and "earns high marks from the state's plaintiffs' bar." Justice Greg Abbott, in contrast, is considered the court's conservative anchor.
(Excerpt) Read more at dutyisours.com ...
Now as President, he's done great on Judges.
It just goes to show that you can't really tell all that much from someone's appointment of Judges on a state or even city level in a totally different environment what they'd do as President.
More importantly, God told us not to compromise, there is nothing as important as pleasing God, not even a four year election.
Wow, thank you very much Mulla Omar!
I'd sure like to know the Bible passage that says we aren't to compromise.
Can anybody say Harriet Miers?
I have been posting that for weeks.
Bush43 has done very well on judges, and look at what this article predicted. Reagan talked pro-life, gave us 2 of 3 pro-Roe SCOTUS justices. Bush 41 gave us 1 of 2. pro-choice Arlen Specter did a solid job getting Alito and Roberts onto the Court.
this is no litmus test coupling on this issue, anything can happen.
the one thing we can be SURE of - Hillary will only appoint liberal pro-Roe justices. that is a 100% certainty.
LOL
thanks. Specter didn't vote no on bork because of Roe, he voted no on him because of Griswold and Bork's seeming excitement at overturning numerous decades old precedents.
Specter voted for Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts, and Kennedy(who will uphold the partial birth abortion ban). In fact, even conservatives who were sour on Kennedy thought he would at least be solid on Roe until he turned.
He would have voted for Doug Ginburg in 87 if he had made it though, or a Larry Silberman or numerous other conservatives.
I didn't say it's ok. i simply tried to make the point that you can't predict who someone would appoint based on appointments made in a totally different context.
Based on Bush's appointments in TX, the likelihood of him going with Roberts and Alito wasn't very high, espescially to replace an O'Connor.
I wouldn't read too much into judges Rudy appointed in 1995 under a strictly regulated NYC system to city judgeships that deal with misdemeanors and no appellate or constitutional issues of any kind to get a read onto who he'd appoint to the SC in 2010 under totally different rules and a totally different atmosphere.
From the article (emphasis added): "George W. has also said that Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the most committed advocates of judicial restraint in generations, is his favorite jurist. But Bush did not indicate exactly why Scalia is his favorite judge or whether he would appoint others just like him."
Rather than give great weight to this statement from GWB and investigate it further, the article's author chose to discount it and proceed to a judgment from George W. Bush's record in Texas. I think that was a mistake by the author and resulted in a false conclusion about the type of judges Bush would likely pick for the SCOTUS.
Gov. Romney stated, "I think the justices that President Bush has appointed are exactly spot-on. I think Justice Roberts and Justice Alito are exactly the kind of justices America needs. They’re people who believe that the Constitution is what they’re to follow, not what they’re to depart from; people who do not believe that legislation from the bench is the responsibility or authority of being on the bench. I respect legal scholars of all backgrounds, but those who are going to be on the bench, if I were lucky enough to appoint them, would be people who believe their job is to follow the law and follow the Constitution."
Has Rudy Giuliani made specific mention of Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, or Alito in naming his favorite judges in the past?
As a matter of fact he has. He's mentioned Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito. He also was on TV and elsewhere advocating for and supporting Roberts and Alito when they were nominated and praised them as good choices at the time. He said he would have appointed Scalia as Chief Justice when Rehnquist died and mentioned that he knew Scalia from his time in the Ford Administration, and that he knew Alito and Roberts from his time in the Reagan Administration and that they were both fine choices.
That Bush fella sounds unreliable! We better all support Gary Bauer!
Followed by a 400 electoral vote margin for Gore.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.