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<p>WASHINGTON -- Having learned the lessons of the Bork fiasco, when Teddy Kennedy libeled Robert Bork on the floor of the Senate within minutes of Bork's nomination -- a speech that became the reference point for the entire nomination fight -- this White House put its new man out front first. The television tableau was perfect. President introduces attractive, boyish-looking, hornless judge to the nation, with wife in the wings and two adorable kids in tow. A John Edwards moment.</p>

President George W. Bush will announce his nomination to replace outgoing Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor at 9pm EDT tonight. Unfortunately, many American children aren't taught in public schools the importance of the Supreme Court or the role they've played in shaping (and sometimes perverting) U.S. law since Marbury v. Madison

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJuly 16, 2005 President's Radio Address      Audio      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Under the Constitution, I have the responsibility to nominate a successor to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. This past week I met with Democratic and Republican leaders in the United States Senate and sought their views on the process, and their thoughts on the qualities to look for in a potential nominee. Also, my staff has talked with more than 60 members of the United States Senate. Members of the Senate are receiving a full opportunity to provide their opinions and...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Top Senate Democrats floated the names of potential candidates for the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a meeting with President Bush, describing them as the type of nominee who could avoid a fierce confirmation battle. Several officials familiar with the discussion said Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Ed Prado of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, both of whom are Hispanic, were among the names mentioned as Bush met with key lawmakers from both parties to discuss the first high court vacancy in 11 years. The officials spoke on condition...

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) issued the following statement about the Supreme Court vacancy following Sandra Day O’Connor’s resignation: “I’m baffled by Senators demanding that President Bush reach out to them in appointing a justice to the Supreme Court. Last time I read it, the Constitution says ‘advise and consent’ not ‘complain and filibuster.’ The Salazar-McCain liberal 14 can’t be allowed to control a judicial branch again.” “I hope the President steps up to the plate and delivers on his mandate. More than 62 million Americans didn’t show up at the voting booth to put an ACLU lefty on the bench.”

USCCB Head Writes President Bush On Supreme Court Vacancy WASHINGTON (July 6, 2005)—Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has written to President Bush about “the qualities that I hope you would contemplate” as Mr. Bush considers the appointment of a successor to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who announced her retirement from the Supreme Court on July 1. In his letter, dated July 1, Bishop Skylstad wrote that “the legacy of a Supreme Court Justice is long and the influence of the Court on the life of the country and the...

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, as we all know, but sometimes vigilantes have to invent bad guys to keep their franchise alive. You could ask some of our Democratic senators or the ladies at the National Organization for Women. The Democrats in the Senate who must confirm a successor to Sandra Day O'Connor have wasted no time in signaling that they're spoiling for a fight, and no sooner had Justice O'Connor announced that she would resign when a successor was confirmed — note that she hasn't retired yet, so technically there isn't yet a vacancy on the Supreme...

When it comes to judicial nominees, especially nominees to the Supreme Court, you might think that the only thing that matters -- the thing that trumps all other considerations -- is whether the nominee is for or against legalized abortions. Many people are too young to realize that there was never a federal ban against abortions before Roe v. Wade created a "Constitutional right" to abortion out of thin air. Before that, the federal government had nothing to say about the subject and the various states had a variety of laws regulating abortions. Political hype has long since drowned out...

f President Bush chooses Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, that might well doom the GOP Senate incumbents, those on the religious right say, by infuriating the party's fervent, evangelical grassroots, Newsweek reports in the current issue. "If the president is foolish enough to nominate Al Gonzales, what he will find is a divided base that will take it out on candidates in 2006," says Manuel Miranda, who heads a coalition of conservative groups called Third Branch Conference. A former legal counsel to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Miranda went on to threaten...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President Bush is spending the weekend at Camp David. He will travel to Morganstown, West Virginia, on Monday to participate in 4th of July celebrations there. The First Lady has been away from Washington recently. However, she will be traveling with the President to Europe this coming week. Our beloved Dubya will mark his 59th birthday on July 6. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. PRESIDENT! And a rousing HAPPY 229TH BIRTHDAY to our great nation. Laura Bush to visit Tanzania 2005-07-01 07:09:58 By Guardian Reporter US First Lady Laura Bush will visit Tanzania later this month. She...

This week marks a historic occasion, not only for the U.S. Supreme Court, but for America -- the retirement announcement of our nation's first female Supreme Court justice. The process in the U.S. Senate for considering her successor should reflect the best of the American judiciary -- not the worst of American politics. Justice O'Connor has provided a voice of judicial restraint on a number of important issues on which the court was closely divided. Throughout her 24 years on the nation's highest court, Sandra Day O'Connor worked to restore common sense to our criminal justice system and foster due...

(CNSNews.com) - Liberal organizations reacted quickly and strongly to Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement on Friday, referring to her departure as creating "an ominous vacancy" that could lead to "terrible changes" on the U.S. Supreme Court. "The battle for the Supreme Court has begun," declared a release from NARAL Pro-Choice America that featured a picture of President George W. Bush. "Don't let his choice end yours. "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement gives President Bush and the radical right the chance they've been waiting for to overturn Roe v. Wade," according to the group's website. "They're pulling out all the stops to...

When Robert Bork was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1987, the Reagan White House was not prepared to fight effectively for his confirmation. Indeed, Bork was such a respected judge and admired legal scholar that President Reagan and his aides assumed Bork would have a relatively easy time winning Senate approval. He lost 58-42. In preparing now for a vacancy on the high court, the Bush White House has studied the Bork confirmation fight. And it has learned lessons it hopes will help when President Bush picks a nominee to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first justice to...

The Supreme Court ended its current term on Monday with more of a whimper than a bang. In the Ten Commandments cases, the justices further muddied the muddy waters of the First Amendment. In a Colorado case, they found no way to compensate a victim of grossly incompetent cops. They refused even to hear the appeal of two reporters who face prison for doing their job. Then they doffed their robes and departed for the summer. One is reminded of Oliver Cromwell's farewell to the Rump Parliament of 1653: "You have sat too long for any good you have done....

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Bill Kristol called it on O'Connor's retirement. Let's hope he is wrong about her replacement: President Bush will appoint Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to replace O'Connor. Bush certainly wants to put Gonzales on the Supreme Court. Presidents usually find a way to do what they want to do. As National Review put it: [T]he president has to know that conservatives, his supporters in good times and bad, would be appalled and demoralized by a Gonzales appointment. It would place his would-be successors in the Senate in a difficult position, forcing them to choose between angering conservatives by voting for Gonzales...

(CNSNews.com) - Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her resignation on Friday. She said she will stay on until her successor is named and confirmed. The White House said President Bush would make a statement in the White House Rose Garden sometime after 11 a.m., but press reports said he was not expected to nominate O'Connor's successor at that time. The timing of O'Connor's announcement, coming on a slow news day before the long holiday weekend, caught much of Washington by surprise; but for weeks, press reports have speculated that either O'Connor or Chief Justice William Rehnquist -- or...

Hearing on Fox News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tracey Schmitt 202-863-8614 WASHINGTON - RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman issued the following statement on the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor:“As the first woman ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor shattered the glass ceiling that existed in American jurisprudence. Over the past twenty-four years, her contributions to the nation's highest court will be remembered for her thoughtful, well-reasoned rulings on the difficult issues of the day. Her presence on the Court will never be replaced, but her seat must be filled and President Bush will work to put forth...

WASHINGTON -- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court and a key swing vote on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, said Friday she is retiring. O'Connor, 75, said she expects to leave before the start of the court's next term in October, or whenever the Senate confirms her successor. There was no immediate word from the White House on who might be nominated to replace O'Connor. It's been 11 years since the last opening on the court, one of the longest uninterrupted stretches in history. O'Connor's decision gives Bush his first opportunity...