Posted on 09/27/2005 9:15:47 AM PDT by demlosers
WASHINGTON - As the U.S. Senate began debating the chief justice nomination of John Roberts, President Bush hinted Monday that his next nominee to the Supreme Court likely will be a woman or minority.
"I will pick a person who can do the job," Bush said of his pending nomination to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. "But I am mindful that diversity is one of the strengths of the country."
A vote on Roberts' confirmation is tentatively scheduled for Thursday. It is virtually a done deal, with two-thirds of the Republican-controlled Senate already committed to supporting him.
Bush is expected to name his next nominee shortly after Roberts is confirmed, and Senate leaders have indicated the next choice could be seated before Thanksgiving.
O'Connor will remain until her successor is confirmed, so the Supreme Court will begin its new term Monday with a full bench of nine justices.
Even before the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 last Thursday to send Roberts' nomination to the full Senate, lawmakers were moving on to the next confirmation hearings, which are widely expected to be a bigger fight.
Roberts' confirmation would essentially replace a conservative, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, with another conservative. But the next nominee will succeed O'Connor, a moderate appointee of Ronald Reagan who has been one of the high court's most influential swing voters, often providing the pivotal vote in 5-4 cases on abortion, affirmative action, capital punishment and discrimination.
Choosing a justice in the mold of conservative Justices Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas, as Bush has repeatedly vowed to do, would likely move the court dramatically to the right, where it could remain for decades.
Bush may make history by nominating the court's first Hispanic justice. Or he could maintain the court's makeup of seven men and two women.
First lady weighs in Over cheese omelets at the White House last week, Senate leaders offered the president about a dozen names, and he made clear that he could face a filibuster if he chooses a controversial ultraconservative.
First lady Laura Bush also weighed in, as she did before Roberts was nominated. Again, she expressed her wish that her husband choose a woman.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the other woman on the court; other than Justice Clarence Thomas, who is black, the rest of the justices are white.
"I know there are qualified women that are in the pool of people who are being looked at," Laura Bush told the Associated Press.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, one of 14 women in the 100-seat Senate, shares the first lady's hope.
"I do want the next nominee to be a woman," Hutchison told the Houston Chronicle. She added that she would also like to see a Hispanic on the high court bench, but that "all things being equal," she would still favor a woman.
Bush has kept his list of potential nominees mostly to himself. But the names that have been floating among Washington insiders include several women, a few Hispanics and at least one who is both.
Conservative Republicans close to the selection process said former Houstonian Priscilla Owen, seated on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in June after controversy about her judicial record, is a top contender, as is her colleague on the court, Houstonian Edith Jones.
U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Consuelo Maria Callahan, also thought to be under consideration, is a Latina.
The list of Latinos includes several Texans — Bush friend and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales of Houston, and federal appeals judges Emilio Garza and Edward Prado, both of San Antonio. Miguel Estrada, a lawyer nominated but not confirmed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, also has conservatives' support.
Dems want 'consultation' Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, supported Roberts. But he warned that Democrats are extremely disappointed in what he called the Bush team's lack of cooperation with the Senate, and that they expect better next time around.
"Roberts' nomination was the result of surprise, not consultation," he said, highlighting the fact that Bush could pick someone who has been left out of the speculation.
Leahy said in Monday's debate that with the controversial war in Iraq and hundreds of thousands of Americans displaced by hurricanes, it's more important than ever for the president to choose as the next nominee someone who won't create deep political divisions.
"The Supreme Court belongs to every American," he said.
Republican senators, along with some Democrats, praised Roberts' legal experience and knowledge. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee called him "the brightest of the bright."
Democrats against Roberts' nomination acknowledged his credentials and said that regardless, they have too many unanswered questions about his commitment to equal rights for minorities and women.
patty.reinert@chron.com
No, none of those. But we do have some overweight Chinese American dwarfs with hearing problems, but are qualified in Chinese sign language. Just don't stand too close.
If its an originalist/strict constructionist/conservative woman jurist, then I'm all for it. But he should avoid the type of mindset that says "this time it must be a woman, or a minority."
For one thing, that will not benefit the Republicans politically one bit. A female or Hispanic version of Scalia or Thomas would be demonized by the Left and the media to the point that they are no longer thought of a true 'woman' or 'Hispanic', but instead as the female or latino equivalent of an Uncle Tom.
For another, this type of thinking can lead to disasters like Sandra Day O'Connor. By promising to nominate the first woman to the Sup Court, Reagan basically backed himself into a corner in that he had to fulfill that promise with his first pick since he was not guaranteed any more. If he had held off of such nonsense, then perhaps a few yrs down the line the list of female candidates to choose from would have been longer and deeper, and then he may have actually chosen a good woman Sup Court justice instead of social liberal O'Connor.
personally, i agree with you. i was just stating what i think will happen, given what happened with the Roberts pick.
Thanks for your answer. Good news. We're praying hard for her nomination.
God bless Bush. God bless Janice Rogers Brown ! And God bless you !
Choose Viet Dinh, Mr. President.
Regards, Ivan
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