Governor Mitt Romney Announces The Advisory Committee On The Constitution And The Courts

Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced the members of his Advisory Committee on the Constitution and the Courts. A collection of distinguished legal professionals, scholars and business leaders, the Advisory Committee will counsel Governor Romney on judicial matters, the separation of powers and federalism issues.

"Today, too many of our country's most important issues are being decided by unelected judges. We need men and women who will adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law. Our nation simply cannot afford judges who legislate from the bench, and who are willing to depart from the Constitution to advance a narrow agenda. When we have judges of the intellectual capabilities of Roberts, Alito, Scalia and Thomas who have a demonstrated commitment to following the law and the Constitution, we can preserve our democracy where the American people are guiding our nation," said Governor Romney. "I am proud to have the support of these distinguished men and women whose many years of experience will be invaluable to our campaign. It is an honor to have their counsel as we address the most important constitutional issues confronting our nation."

With today's announcement, Professor Mary Ann Glendon and Professor Douglas W. Kmiec, Co-Chairs of the Advisory Committee, issued a joint statement saying, "Governor Romney knows first-hand the importance of nominating judges who will adhere to the rule of law and the Constitution. From our association with him, we know that a President Romney will nominate only men and women who have a genuine appreciation for the Constitution's text, structure and history. Over the course of this campaign, we look forward to working with this group to provide Governor Romney with excellent counsel on the constitutional questions confronting our Judiciary today."

Co-Chairs Of The Advisory Committee On The Constitution And The Courts:

- Mary Ann Glendon – Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Former Member, U.S. President's Council on Bioethics

- Douglas W. Kmiec – Caruso Family Chair & Professor of Constitutional Law, Pepperdine University; Former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush

Members Of The Advisory Committee On The Constitution And The Courts:

- Bradford A. Berenson – Partner, Sidley Austin LLP; Former Associate White House Counsel to President George W. Bush; Law Clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; Chairman, The Federalist Society, Executive Committee of the Criminal Law and Procedure Practice Group

- Elliot S. Berke – General Counsel, Barbour Griffith & Rogers and Of Counsel, McGahn & Associates; Former Counsel to the Speaker of the House; Former General Counsel to the House Majority Leader

- Michelle Boardman – Assistant Professor, George Mason School of Law; Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, for President George W. Bush

- James Bopp, Jr. – Partner, Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom; General Counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech; Special Adviser on Life Issues to Governor Mitt Romney

- Jamie Brown – Principal, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti; Former Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, The White House, and Acting Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice, for President George W. Bush

- Allen Ferrell – Greenfield Professor of Securities Law, Harvard Law School; Law Clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States and Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

- D. Cameron Findlay – Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Aon Corporation; Former Deputy Secretary of Labor for President George W. Bush; Deputy Assistant to President George H. W. Bush, Law Clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States

- Timothy Flanigan – Former General Counsel, Corporate and International Law, Tyco International; Former Deputy White House Counsel to President George W. Bush; Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, for President George H.W. Bush; Law Clerk to the Honorable Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States

- Tom Gede – Principal, Bingham Consulting Group; Former Executive Director, Conference of Western Attorneys General; Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General's Office

- Allyson Ho – Baker Botts; Former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Counselor to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft; Law Clerk to Justice Sandra Day O?Connor of the Supreme Court of the United States

- James Huffman – Erskine Wood Sr. Professor of Law (and former Dean), Lewis & Clark Law School; Former Chairman, The Federalist Society, Executive Committee of the Environment and Property Rights Practice Group

- Jay Jorgensen – Partner, Sidley Austin LLP; Law Clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the Untied States and then-Judge Samuel Alito of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

- Christopher Landau – Partner and Head of the Appellate Litigation Practice Group, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Appellate Litigation Practice Group, Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Law Clerk to Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States

- David G. Leitch – General Counsel, Ford Motor Company; Former Deputy White House Counsel to President George W. Bush; Law Clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States

- Wendy Long – Chief Counsel, Judicial Confirmation Network; Law Clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States

- Gary L. McDowell – Tyler Haynes Professor of Leadership Studies, Political Science, and Law in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond; Former Chief Speech Writer to Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III

- Mark D. Nielsen – Vice President, Legal, Raytheon Corporation; Former Chief of Staff and Chief Legal Counsel to Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney

- Howard C. Nielson, Jr. – Of Counsel, Cooper & Kirk; Former Counsel to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft; Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, for President George W. Bush; Law Clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States and former Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

- Stephen Presser – Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History, Northwestern University School of Law

- Kristi Remington – Principal, Blank Rome Government Relations LLC; Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice, for President George W. Bush

- Gene Schaerr – Partner and Chair of the Nationwide Appellate Litigation Group, Winston & Strawn LLP; Former Associate White House Counsel to President George H. W. Bush; Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger and Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States, and to former Judge Kenneth W. Starr of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; Chairman, Constitutional Sources Project

- Jay Sekulow – Constitutional Law and Supreme Court Advocate

- Bradley A. Smith – Professor of Law, Capital University Law; Of Counsel, Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease; Former Chairman, Federal Election Commission

- Matthew Spalding – Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies, The Heritage Foundation

- Jay B. Stephens – Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Raytheon Company; Former Deputy White House Counsel to President Ronald Reagan; Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, for President George W. Bush; United States Attorney for The District Of Columbia for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush

- Richard K. Willard – Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP; Former Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, for President Ronald Reagan; Law Clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun of the Supreme Court of the United States and then-Judge Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

*Organization names are listed for identification purposes only and should not be construed as endorsements by such organizations.

he also knows the conservative legal stars who would likely be candidates for the Court in coming years. But he won’t name names, beyond the men already there, “I like Roberts and Alito and Scalia and Thomas” he tells me. “We’re in a heck of a lot better shape because of Roberts and Alito, and one more gain would put us in even better shape.” Should he become president, Thompson would undoubtedly try to nominate that elusive fifth conservative.

It sounds like Romney and Thompson have similar views on their desired make up of the Supreme Court. May the best one win.

“Long argues that Romney “is the only one I’m absolutely sure” will give us more nominees like Justices Alito and Roberts.”

When the White House actually needed a man to get Roberts through the confirmation hearings they probably flipped a coin between Romney and Thompson, as the man best able to do it.

Too bad, it could have been a good campaigning tool for Romney.

Wendy Long saw it a bit differently:

What was her experience in seeing another candidate, Thompson, in the confirmation process of John Roberts?

She describes Thompson's role as "social" and says that Thompson's role was not to defend or explain Robert's background or views. She adds that Thompson has a "gregarious personality" and sense of humor which "just made it a pleasant experience" for Roberts in his Senate meetings.

>>>Um... does Romney ever have any of his OWN ideas, or is he going to base his entire office on buying the opinions of others?<<<

www.mittromney.com

Go to MittTV. You’ll see that Mitt Romney has more ideas of his own than any other candidate out there.

Hunter is the only candidate who even comes close to matching him in terms of depth, mastery, completely and ingenuity of policy.

No one else is even close.

Mitt had NO idea that he won’t upend later if he thinks it will get him votes.

If Romney gets anywhere near the GOP nomination, it will truly be the end of the GOP.

>>>>If Romney gets anywhere near the GOP nomination, it will truly be the end of the GOP.<<

Dude, I can think of far worse things happening than a guy with a record of getting things done--an unparalleled ability to cut out waste and turn flagging institutions into profit-makers--taking over in Washington. Especially one as unafraid as Romney is to call a jihadist a jihadist and who is as tough on the border as he is.

I can think of things worse, too. A McCain nomination.

But, if Romney gets it, we WILL lose to Hillary. Evangelicals will not vote for Romney for the most part and neither will conservatives.

Hillary will cream him in a landslide..

And, he will split the party permanently. The conservatives will never come back to the GOP if we support Romney. We already had a big government Republican in Bush. His idea of Big Govt Conservatism has about ruined the GOP’s base. Romney is Bush redux in big government nonsense.

Worse, the flip flops that Romney has had makes him obviously an unprincipled man that will be ruled by polls just like Clinton.

We need a man in office firmly guided by principle. Romney is not that man in ANY way.

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