On O'Connor and the SC

[yendi]

I had a long post talking about the various possibilities (and I still naively hope we won't see a Mel Martinez nomination), but just didn't have the time or effort for real debate today.

So I'll simply leave you with a quotation from Orrin Hatch's autobiography, showing how the situation was handled last time. I strongly suspect that we won't see as classy a handling of the situation this time around. I'd also love to be wrong.

[It] was not a surprise when the President called to talk about the appointment and what he was thinking of doing.

President Clinton indicated he was leaning toward nominating Bruce Babbitt, his Secretary of the Interior, a name that had been bouncing around in the press. Bruce, a well-known western Democrat, had been the governor of Arizona and a candidate for president in 1988. Although he had been a state attorney general back during the 1970s, he was known far more for his activities as a politician than as a jurist. Clinton asked for my reaction.

I told him that confirmation would not be easy. At least one Democrat would probably vote against Bruce, and there would be a great deal of resistance from the Republican side. I explained to the President that although he might prevail in the end, he should consider whether he wanted a tough, political battle over his first appointment to the Court.

Our conversation moved to other potential candidates. I asked whether he had considered Judge Stephen Breyer of the First Circuit Court of Appeals or Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. President Clinton indicated he had heard Breyer’s name but had not thought about Judge Ginsberg.

I indicated I thought they would be confirmed easily. I knew them both and believed that, while liberal, they were highly honest and capable jurists and their confirmation would not embarrass the President. From my perspective, they were far better than the other likely candidates from a liberal Democrat administration.

In the end, the President did not select Secretary Babbitt. Instead, he nominated Judge Ginsburg and Judge Breyer a year later, when Harry Blackmun retired from the Court. Both were confirmed with relative ease.

Comments

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

Excellent quote. I hope you don't mind me posting it elsewhere.

[yendi]

Hey, it's not my copyright.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

god, words of moderation and reason from Orrin Hatch, of all people.

who'da thunk?

[smilerz.livejournal.com]

Hatch was not promoting moderates for nomination, but rather good judges. Ginsburg is easily the most liberal justice on the court, yet she did not receive much opposition in the Senate because her legal background in solid. She was never subjected to the arbitrary philosophical litmus tests that Democrats insist on using.

This is a good example on how the Democrats should approach the confirmation process, not how the President should approach the nomination process

[yendi]

True, but it's also an example of a President working with, and seeking the council of, the opposing side.

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

Your post combined with your icon made me think that Jason Voorhees would be a cool Supreme Court judge.

[yendi]

Man. That would so rock. I mean, someone makes a faulty argument, they get a machete in the head.

Actually, someone makes the mistake of walking into the room, they get a machete in the head.

Man, the SCOTUS would be a lot more interesting.

[dindin.livejournal.com]

Then again, Clinton was not a rabid idiot. We can only pray that Bush recognizes the problems he will encounter should he choose to replace a moderate with an extremist.