[SergeantsLady]

I've done a bit of checking too...from Constitutionfacts.com...and I was shocked to see
"Madison, “the Father of the Constitution”—the most important legal document in modern history—never received a law degree." On other sites, its referenced that Madison was quite knowledgeable of the law...

If the intent is to have as a Supreme Court Justice, an individual who'd evaluate cases based on the Founding Fathers' vision for the United States of America (as defined in the Constitution, Bill of Rights & Declaration of Independence, etc)...then based on the historical background of those "Founding Fathers" then Harriet Miers' education & professional experience would probably have been quite acceptable to them...except perhaps that she's a woman...

For those who oppose her nomination, I'd prefer they reference the "unknowns" about her, rather than belittle her intellect... I've known many brilliant Phds who can dance verbal circles around me, but cannot read a road map or change a light bulb. Somehow, an intellectually brilliant Supreme Court managed recently to rule it reasonable for private property to be seized strictly for the financial benefit of the "State"... apparently 5 of them could only see a forest & not a single tree.

[born in the Bronx]

Almost no one had a law degree back then--they didn't exist. You "read law' with a practicing attorney and were then admitted to the bar. In fact, a few states, you can still become a lawyer this way, provided you pass the bar exam. That Madison didn't have a degree is meaningless--if you look up bio's of Supreme Court Justices you'll see that this was pretty common even in the early part of the 20th century.

(I know what you mean about brillian Ph.D's--I'm married to one. The fact remains that if I want to know about Ezra Pound, I'll ask my husband--not my insurance agent who's probably capable of reading a few good books about him).