Miers' Views Labeled "Activist," Supportive of Abortion Rights in Washington Post

BetterJustice.com ^

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Americans for Better Justice - Ad Against Miers

WithdrawMiers.org - The Concerns

Sign the Americans For Better Justice Petition Against Miers

What Conservatives are saying about Miers

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Free Republic Opinion Poll on Miers Nomination - NO (44.8%) - YES (32.3%)

[BushisTheMan]

Maybe we should have an automatic post counter so all the anti-Miers posts you do can be automatically counted.

We all get what your agenda is. Just tell me, which of the ad funders are you?

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Amen! You get my agenda. You get the agenda of Free Republic. You get the agenda of the Conservative Movement. So I suppose I should counter your frivolous injection by pointing out what grassroots conservative activism is all about, but you’d probably brandish me with left wing bromides like “far right” and the likes – making the venture hopeless and futile.

[counterpunch]

Compare Harriet Miers's answer to question #28 on the Senate Judiciary Committee's questionnaire paraphrasing the wording of the majority opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 case which reaffirmed Roe v. Wade and expanded abortion rights:

"Any decision to revisit a precedent should follow only the most careful consideration of the factors that courts have deemed relevant to the question. Thus, whether a prior decision is wrong is only the beginning of the inquiry. The court must also consider other factors, such as whether the prior decision has proven unworkable, whether developments in the law have undermined the precedent, and whether legitimate reliance interests mitigate against overruling."

—Harriet Miers


"So in this case, we may enquire whether Roe's central rule has been found unworkable; whether the rule's limitation on state power could be removed without serious inequity to those who have relied upon it or significant damage to the stability of the society governed by it; whether the law's growth in the intervening years has left Roe's central rule a doctrinal anachronism discounted by society; and whether Roe's premises of fact have so far changed in the ensuing two decades as to render its central holding somehow irrelevant or unjustifiable in dealing with the issue it addressed."

U.S. Supreme Court
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHEASTERN PA. v. CASEY, 505 U.S. 833 (1992)


The court must also consider other factors, such as whether the prior decision has proven unworkable
So in this case, we may enquire whether Roe's central rule has been found unworkable

whether developments in the law have undermined the precedent
whether the law's growth in the intervening years has left Roe's central rule a doctrinal anachronism

whether legitimate reliance interests mitigate against overruling
whether the rule's limitation on state power could be removed without serious inequity to those who have relied upon it


Miers parroted Souter, O'Connor, and Kennedy's exact reasons for not overturning Roe v. Wade while professing her deep abiding respect for stare decisis.

Miers says "Judicial activism can occur when a judge ignores the principles of precedent and stare decisis. Humility and self-restraint require the judiciary to adhere to its limited role and recognize that where applicable precedent exists, courts are not free to ignore it. Mere disagreement with a result is insufficient to justify ignoring applicable precedent"

Souter, O'Connor, and Kennedy refer to the stare decisis of Roe no less than 11 times in their opinion, making sure to cement it as Court precedent. Miers's answer binds her to deference.

None of this should give anyone comfort in the least.
It is all a very strong signal from Miers that she will turn to stare decisis and not vote to overturn Roe.

 

[Cicero]

Your name says it all.

[jdm]

Bush is The Man ????

Bush may be "the man" 90% of the time, but this nomination was a SERIOUS misstep. With a screename such as yours I presume you believe that Bush can do no wrong. How sad.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

P.S., I suppose you're going to tell Phyllis Schlafly, Cal Thomas, George Will, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, Alan Keyes, Laura Ingraham, Jonah Goldberg, John Fund, David Frum, Ann Coulter, Linda Chavez, Mona Charen, David Brooks, Judge Robert Bork, Bill Bennett, at least 44.8% of FreeRepublic.com (OPPOSE MIERS), and countless other conservatives should just "be quiet" & "shut up" according to the likes of you...I'm sure we don't need to check into your history of ruthlessly thrashing and posting (the only posting you allow and praise) in support of Miers. You're an ankle biter, period!

[jdm]

Thanks for your great work. If you have a "ping" list on Miers, I'd be grateful to be added to the list.

[BushisTheMan]

Yes, I'd tell all of them. You are trying to take the high road but you're really on the low road.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Stellar Dendrite has a PING list on the subject..

[BushisTheMan]

You presumption was incorrrect. Unlike YOU, I was willing to not sound like Liberals and am willing to let this woman have her day in court. I'm not the one trying to kill her nomination with an ad and by counter posting ugly comments about her like you and the rest of your crowd. Don't try to take the part of the martyr here. Your slash and burn tactics say otherwise.

[BushisTheMan]

actually, my name would say it all if it were:

MiersistheWoman

[BushisTheMan]

Hello...you are far right and ultra right. You are not conservative..you are as hateful as the left is. You are giving conservatives a bad name.

Am I busting up your "we are the elite" party?

[Windcatcher]

When I first saw the "self-determination" quote I interpreted it as the right of the people, through their elected representatives, to determine how abortion shall be handled in their respective States. To me that would be self-determination, which isn't what we have today. Today we have a blue-state policy imposed by judges on all fifty states in the Union. Her quote might mean that Roe v. Wade should be overturned, so the red states, through their right of self-determination, could go their own way on the issue.

[JusticeForAll76]

That is a pretty standard answer to the question of how a judge should view precedent.

John Roberts response was substantially identical.

[jec41]

We all get what your agenda is. Just tell me, which of the ad funders are you?

No need to try to reason here. These are a special brand and species of Conservatives. They can tell what you think and believe without ever knowing anything about a person. Three weeks ago most had never even heard of Miers. Now they can predict her future thoughts and actions and want to brainwash anyone that does not have their talent.

[Conservative Coulter Fan]

Well, he offers only equivocation. By wanting a qualified nominee in the mold of Scalia, you are likened to liberals (backwards?!?). Urgent pleas and requests from conservatives to withdraw the nomination and put this rest means you are likened to liberals. Criticism, both rational and reasonable makes you guilty of the slash and burn tactics of the left. He basically attacks conservatives by making this absurd leap in logic – conservatives are liberals for being conservative.

[jdm]

"I'm not the one trying to kill her nomination with an ad and by counter posting ugly comments about her like you and the rest of your crowd."

What ugly comments have I made? Any comment I've made about Miers has been civil. I simply oppose her nomination. Opposition alone equals ugliness?

[JCEccles]

willing to let this woman have her day in court

One: she's not going to court. If she loses, she will not go to jail; she will not be fined. She will continue to live very well indeed.

Two: honest criticism, early and often, of the gross shortcomings of this nomination is exactly what is needed if we are to have any chance at all of getting and keeping a well qualified, consistent conservative justice on the SCOTUS this go round and for the next 30 years.

This is NOT about Harriet Miers and her ego. This is about something far greater and more important. It is about this nation, its people, and its Constitution, and whether we can still prevent the destruction of this great Republic at the hands of liberal Justices.