While I'm sure Harriet Miers is a very good lawyer, she does not have the kind of credentials that Roberts or any of the Supremes have: she went to a third tier law school (US news ranks as #52, first tier is the dozen or so schools who make one or another top ten ranking, second tier is the next 20-odd schools that make one or more top 25 lists) and has never been a law clerk to a major league (Court of Appeals or Supreme Court) judge. However good she is, she will not be taken seriously as a candidate.
No judicial experience is the disqualifying factor. The principal job of a supreme court justice is to write judicial opinions with the type of legal analysis that will withstand the scrutiny of her peers on the Supreme Court and will earn the respect of the judicial community.
That's a plus. Do you really want some pinhead who graduated from Harvard, Yale or Columbia?
Trial boons.
bush's pick for sandy o'connor's replacement:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cas/HTML/u_s__attorney.html
She has the ivy-league credentials of Rehnquist and O'Connor (all three stanford law grads). She has identity politics going for her in spades: Asian, woman. Too much is said about bush trying to court the hispanics and that the pick will reflect that. In fact, the GOP should start getting asians on board more as they are disproportionately represented in the professions. Every year there are tens of young asians clerking for judges (way more than latinos).For instance: this guy.
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/profiles/facultyProfile.php?facID=235
Then look at her resume: went after cosa nostra (tough on crime), went after metabolife nutritionals (a move favored by big pharma--one of the GOP's biggest donors, by the way), and recently: freeing a mexican who smuggled immigrants into u.s. Yeah, neither her nor bush will really do anything about the border in our lifetime.
Besides, this business of only looking at candidates from the pool of federal appeals judges is overemphasized. There would be a little more diverse experience on SCOTUS if a prosecutor such as Lam were nominated. They already have an advocate in Ginsburg. Kind of balances things out, doesn't it? Without having to lurch to the right and waste time on a confirmation fight. If bush wanted to take the court strongly to the right he would've elevated Scalia, but he DIDN'T.
You'll remember that bush was in San Diego the day after Katrina hit. He was there to interview this lady.
the cw is wrong.
SMU was probably a better law school back in the day, as when they had Eric Dickerson. We dont need any more inside players on Scotus however. Insiders on the court is why we have go along to get along justices who wont roll back the Warren legacy