Posted on 10/03/2005 7:10:27 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, reaching into his loyal inner circle for another pick that could reshape the nation's judiciary for years to come.
"She has devoted her life to the rule of law and the cause of justice," Bush said as his first Supreme Court pick, Chief Justice John Roberts, took the bench for the first time just a few blocks from the White House. "She will be an outstanding addition to the Supreme Court of the United States."
If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Miers, 60, would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the nation's highest court and the third to serve there. Miers, who has never been a judge, was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association.
Miers, whom Bush called a trailblazer for women in the legal profession, said she was humbled by the nod.
"If confirmed, I recognize I will have a tremendous responsibility to keep our judicial system strong and to help insure the court meets their obligations to strictly apply the laws and Constitution," she said.
Democratic and Republican special interests groups had been braced for a political brawl over the pick, but they may not get it. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had urged the president to consider Miers, according to several officials familiar with Bush's consultations with Congress.
Miers has no judicial record, which may complicate any Democratic attempts to block her nomination. It is impossible to predict whether Miers and Roberts will shift the court to the right. She would replace O'Connor, a critical swing vote on the court who helped uphold the right to abortion and affirmative action. Rehnquist, the late chief justice being replaced by Roberts, was a consistent conservative vote.
"We know even less about Harriet Miers than we did about John Roberts and because this is the critical swing seat on the court, Americans will need to know a lot more about Mier's judicial philosophy and legal background before any vote for confirmation," said Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said: "With this selection, the president has chosen another outstanding nominee to sit on our nations highest court. Ms. Miers is honest and hard working and understands the importance of judicial restraint and the limited role of a judge to interpret the law and not legislate from the bench."
Bush, his approval rating falling in recent months, had been under intense pressure to nominate a woman or a minority.
Miers had helped push Roberts' nomination through the Senate, and Bush said that "she will strictly interpret our Constitution and laws. She will not legislate from the bench." Conservatives apparently agreed.
Initial reaction from conservatives was positive.
"She has been a forceful advocate of conservative legal principles and judicial restraint throughout her career," said Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society.
"Harriet Miers is a top-notch lawyer who understands the limited role that judges play in our society," said Noel Francisco, former assistant White House counsel and deputy assistant attorney general during the Bush administration.
The president offered the job to Miers Sunday night over dinner in the residence. He met with Miers on four occasions during the past couple weeks, officials said.
Rehnquist, whose death paved way for Roberts' nomination, had not served as a judge before President Nixon put him on the Supreme Court. Nineteen other justices previously had never served as judges before getting on the high court.
According to the White House, 10 of the 34 Justices appointed since 1933, including Rehnquist and the late Justice Byron White, were appointed from positions within the president's administration.
"Having never served as a judge, Ms. Miers has no `paper trail' of judicial opinions, and prospective opponents thus will have a hard time identifying positions to protest or complain about," said Supreme Court historian David Garrow. "What's more, Ms. Miers' professional record as an attorney in Texas is undeniably one of significant achievement and accomplishment, and her proponents will be able to present her as a female trail blazer whose life-record is at least arguably comparable to that of Justice O'Connor."
Known for thoroughness and her low-profile, Miers is one of the first staff members to arrive at the White House in the morning and among the last to leave.
When Bush named her White House counsel in November 2004, the president described Miers as a lawyer with keen judgment and discerning intellect — "a trusted adviser on whom I have long relied for straightforward advice."
He also joked of Miers, "When it comes to a cross-examination, she can fillet better than Mrs. Paul."
With no record, liberals say the White House should be prepared for Miers to be peppered with questions during her Senate confirmation.
"Choosing somebody who is not a judge would put that much more of a premium on straight answers to questions because there would be that much less for senators and the public to go on when looking at such a nominee's judicial philosophy," says Elliot Mincberg, counsel with the liberal People for the American Way.
Formerly Bush's personal lawyer in Texas, Miers came with the president to the White House as his staff secretary, the person in charge of all the paperwork that crosses the Oval Office desk. Miers was promoted to deputy chief of staff in June 2003.
As an attorney in Dallas, Miers became president in 1996 of Locke Purnell, Rain & Harrell a firm with more than 200 lawyers where she worked starting in 1972. After it merged a few years later, she became co-manager of Locke Liddell & Sapp.
When Bush was governor of Texas, she represented him in a case involving a fishing house. In 1995, he appointed her to a six-year term on the Texas Lottery Commission. She also served as a member-at-large on the Dallas City Council and in 1992 became the first woman president of the Texas State Bar.
"...the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association"
... and then as a chair of TX Lottery....
HEY - works for me !
Rehnquist was never a judge either, as have a number of SCOTUS members.
You know zippo, nada, about this subject, but commenting anyway like you are an expert.
So if this prediction turns out to be true, what will be the rationalization this time? After all, we were told over and over again that that the Roberts nomination was "strategery" to get someone more solid next time and make the Democrats look extremist in their reaction to whoever that might be. So when that fails to happen, then what will be the Ofiicial Party Line?
David Frum worked with Harriet Miers. He says:
She's a lovely person: intelligent, honest, capable, loyal, discreet, dedicated ... I could pile on the praise all morning. But there is no reason at all to believe either that she is a legal conservative or - and more importantly - that she has the spine and steel necessary to resist the pressures that constantly bend the American legal system toward the left.
I am not saying that she is not a legal conservative. I am not saying that she is not steely. I am saying only that there is no good reason to believe either of these things. Not even her closest associates on the job have no good reason to believe either of these things. In other words, we are being asked by this president to take this appointment purely on trust, without any independent reason to support it. And that is not a request conservatives can safely grant.
Not quite sure what you are saying.
But if anyone believed the President was going to deliberately provoke a fight with the RATs over this they have apparently been asleep for the last five years. It is not his style to wade into avoidable fights with RATs.
Our major struggle is against the enemy within, the Treason Media.
Stevens isn't immortal, he's ready to move on,,
This pick may, at best, keep us close to the center.
I agree, look ahead to the 3rd and 4th picks.
The left took years to build a court that could wreak its havoc on this nation, it will take many to undo their damage.
I also have concerns about a number of issues facing this antion and how the President's administration is or refuses to deal with a couple key items, but we are at war.
We are Americans and we can either focus on what needs to get done or run around like a flock of chickens with our heads cut off.
I prefer the former. I see enough of the latter portrayed in and by the MSM and the left.
"Conservatives need to leave the Republican Party to people like Chaffee, Snowe, McCain (You can now add Bush to that list) et al and reconstituent themselves as new political force which more clearly represents an anti-liberal, pro-traditional value, pro-strict constructionist and original intent political philosophy."
No they don't. Conservatives just need to take back the Republican party from these betrayers.
Don't know if I oppose her.
You got references for this?
Since English isn't apparently your first language, I'll give you a pass on this one. A member of the Federalist Society made a comment. By your logic, you are an official White House spokesman and everything you say should be taken as the official position of the White House. Right. Sure. Whatever.
You are just making things up as you go along...
I see. Do you have some evidence of that, or are you just barking?
...if the liars and idiots are against her like this she must be a good nominee.
And if the Bush lemmings are starting to mindlessly support her like this, I am even more doubtful than before.
I thought the picture in post #5 looked like a scene from the exorcist.
Laura Ingraham just reported it on her program. I'm sure it will show up on her site shortly.
Not since 1987.
Maybe you need to spend less time drinking the White House Kool-aid and more time doing research.
Take your own advice before you quote things as fact.
BS
Rheinquist had no judicial experience.
The Left would probably assume that Chomsky sold his soul to satan and had converted to conservatism.
The Left may run around calling the President an idiot, but when it comes down to it - they're afraid of him. He's outwitted them far longer than any other conservative since Reagan, and chances are he might even do Reagan a one up before his second term is over.
It's probably time for someone to play hardball with Stevens.
If the Pres has nudged this court ever so slightly to the right...because this woman sounds like a constructionist, non-activist...then a soon departure by Stevens would set up a huge battle about the time of the mid-term elections.
The president could appoint a pure conservative and the fight would energize the base for the elections...at which we have a chance to forge an unfilibusterable lead.
Then, real damage can be done. I've got some concerns, but I see this as a political move, and I see it as part of a grander strategy.
drudge is blaring that she gave money to clinton/gore . . . .
There are several in the history of the court. To me, that's a good thing.
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