Or it could be a very smart lady, who also happens to be a brilliant lawyer, as well.
Posted on 09/27/2005 3:32:09 PM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON -- President Bush, close to nominating a successor to retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, has narrowed his list to a handful of candidates that outside advisers say includes federal judges and two people who have never banged a gavel — corporate attorney Larry Thompson and White House counsel Harriet Miers.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Tuesday that Bush had pledged to consult with senators about his selection and said, "I think we were essentially wrapping that process up as early as today."
He declined to say if the president had interviewed any candidates and wouldn't speculate about Bush's favorites, but legal analysts monitoring the selection process say others often mentioned are federal appellate judges Alice Batchelder, J. Michael Luttig, Edith Jones, J. Harvie Wilkinson, Priscilla Owen, Samuel Alito, Karen Williams and Michael McConnell. Also said to be on the list are Maura Corrigan, a judge on the Michigan Supreme Court, and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Bush is expected to announce his nominee quickly after Thursday's anticipated confirmation and swearing in of John Roberts as chief justice.
Bush on Monday hinted he might choose a woman or minority member. But some outside advisers were intrigued by another part of Bush's reply. The president said he had interviewed and considered people from "all walks of life."
That raised speculation that Bush was actively considering people who were not on the bench — such as Miers, a Texas lawyer and the president's former personal attorney, and Thompson, a counsel at PepsiCo, who was the federal government's highest ranking black law enforcement official when he was deputy attorney general during Bush's first term.
"It could be someone outside of the legal judicial field like a Larry Thompson, or it could be a senator,"
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
What is John Cornyn doing this week?
"...two people who have never banged a gave."
That would never fly. That's just media hype. Bush is much smarter than that.
Or it could be a very smart lady, who also happens to be a brilliant lawyer, as well.
Rope a dope.
ANN! ANN! ANN! ANN!
Agree 100%. See the idiotic statements by this idiot. Who gives a rats rear end about what he thinks? What constitutional power does he weild? Jerks and jokers.
Ann should start modeling. Smart constitutional lawyer as a model will be simply great!
Alice Batchelder seems like a good choice, an uncontroversial conservative from a politically pivotal state with an extensive record (over 20 years) on the Federal bench. Her only shortcoming would be her age (63).
I think we should look out for Diane Sykes, who's youthful (47) and was confirmed to her current post last year by a vote of 70 to 27.
My idol Ann would be ideal.
Not only would she rock when confirmed, she would drive many confirmed liberals to suicide, or to flee the country.
I keep hearing Sykes' name. Got any info on her (Roe, etc.)????
Give me Luttig, Brown, Garza, Owens, Jones.
NO liberals. NO moderates. NO centrists either.
Conservative. Originalist. Constitutionalist.
PresBush, give America someone who believes in the Founders original intent as laid out in our Constitution.
Harriet Miers Biography
Harriet Miers serves as Counsel to the President. Most recently, she served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff, and prior to that she was Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary.
Before joining the President’s staff, she was Co-Managing Partner at Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP from 1998-2000. She had worked at the Locke Purnell, Rain & Harrell firm, or its predecessor, from 1972 until its merger with the Liddell Sapp firm. From 1995 until 2000, she was chair of the Texas Lottery Commission. In 1992, Harriet became the first woman president of the Texas State Bar, and in 1985 she became the first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association. She also served as a Member-At-Large on the Dallas City Council.
Harriet received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Southern Methodist University.
Historically, many people have been appointed to SCOTUS without prior judicial experience. Rehnquist was never a judge before Nixon appointed him associate justice. Neither was Earl Warren before Eisenhower made him Chief Justice.
She has been on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for a year. Before that, she was a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where she wrote a number of dissenting opinions. She was appointed to that post by then-Gov. Tommy Thompson, who is her main backer. She is a graduate of Marquette University, and never attended an Ivy League college or clerked for the Supreme Court. So she is not a known quantity in DC. But those may not necessarily be negatives.
Her rulings are known for being well-written and well-prepared. Some feminists have opposed her because of a lenient sentence she imposed against some pro-life protesters in a decision some years back, but she has no known paper trail on the Roe vs. Wade decision. It's worth noting that when she was nominated, the Democrats didn't filibuster her. And 31 Dmeocrats supported her for the Court of Appeals, including both Senators from Wisconsin. They would be hard-pressed to oppose someone they supported a year ago.
Well, her ex-husband is a very conservative radio talk show host who has made some controversial remarks in the past. Though they are not longer married, Democrats may ask whether she agrees with whatever of his remarks they choose to cite.
Bush needs to strive for Constitutional conservativism without controversy whenever possible. I think that Sykes has the potential to do that.
The Wisc dems backed her so that the dem governor could put a dem on the bench to replace her on the Wisc SC. That being said, she'd still get confirmed.
I'd like to see Fred Thompson. Problem is, he's 63 and probably can't be pried away from Law & Order.
His nomination would tie the rats in knots.
I second that.
Unfortunately, I'm afraid that if she is not nominated then there will be a lot of disappointed people around here, including me, because whoever the nominee is will be regarded as not as good as JRB.
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