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Let the Harriett Miers fact finding begin.
Newsday is reporting that Bush has nominated Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court...
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 3, 2005, 7:04 AM EDT
NewsdayWASHINGTON -- President Bush has chosen White House counsel Harriett Miers for Supreme Court, administration official says.
President Bush has chosen his second nominee to the Supreme Court and will announce his pick Monday at the White House, just hours before the court begins a new term with newly sworn-in Chief Justice John Roberts at the helm, administration officials said.
Let the Harriett Miers fact finding begin.
They said on News 8 Austin that even less about her is known than that other chode that was nominated.
White Houe.govPresident Bush Names Harriet Miers as Top Counsel
President George W. Bush today announced his intention to appoint Harriet Miers to be Counsel to the President. Ms. Miers will fill the position held by Judge Alberto Gonzales, following his confirmation by the Senate.
"Harriet Miers is a trusted adviser, on whom I have long relied for straightforward advice. Harriet has the keen judgment and discerning intellect necessary to be an outstanding Counsel. She is a talented lawyer whose great integrity, legal scholarship, and grace have long marked her as one of America's finest lawyers. I have deep respect for Harriet and look forward to her continued counsel in this new role," stated President Bush.
Ms. Miers currently serves as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff. Most recently, she served as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary. Prior to joining the White House staff, Ms. Miers was Co-Managing Partner at Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP, where she helped manage an over 400-lawyer firm. Previously, she was President of Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell, where she worked for 26 years. In 1992, Ms. Miers became the first woman elected Texas State Bar President following her selection in 1985 as the first woman to become President of the Dallas Bar Association. She also served as a Member-At-Large on the Dallas City Council. Ms. Miers received her bachelor's degree and J.D. from Southern Methodist University.
Critics are already calling her another Bush Crony, but her lack of Judicial record makes her an ideal candidate for the right.
White House Counsel Harriet Miers talks with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, left, on the South Lawn of the White House before depart to attend the 52nd annual Red Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005 in Washington. Miers has come up as a potential candidate for nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Bush on Sunday declined to say whether he had decided on a nominee. Chief of Staff Andy Card said the president was 'still working' on making his decision, 'still considering lots of options.' (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Miers, has never been a judge, was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association. She also served on the Dallas City Council.
CBS NewsOnce described by White House chief of staff Andrew Card as "one of the favorite people in the White House," Miers has been there for President Bush at every turn for more than a decade.
...
Card, in a 2003 interview with the publication Texas Lawyer, said Mr. Bush's affinity for Miers is clear in the frequent invitations she receives to visit the presidential retreat at Camp David, "a privilege that is not enjoyed by a lot of staff."
...
Intensely loyal, Miers is happy to stay off the radar screen as long as her boss is happy, on the thinking that White House counsels only make news when there's been a mistake.
...
Miers reveals little of her own emotions or ideological persuasions, but has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Bush administration on a broad of initiatives including tax cuts, Social Security reforms, restrictions on federal spending on embryonic stem cell research, national security, education reforms and fighting terrorism.
Miers has supported Democratic candidates in the past, including in 2000 when she supported Al Gore.
"Born and raised in Dallas, Miers, 59, is a graduate of Southern Methodist University. She went on to law school at SMU, earning her law degree in 1970 and going on to clerk for a federal judge in Dallas. In an era when there were few female lawyers, Miers set out for the top.
According to published reports, she was the first woman hired by Locke Purnell Boren Laney & Neely, a Dallas firm whose history extends to the 1890s. She went on to become a top commercial litigator whose clients included Microsoft and the Walt Disney Co.
Miers, who is not married and does not have children, was active in professional organizations and eventually was elected head of the Dallas and Texas bar associations, where she was known for encouraging members to do pro bono work.
Miers met Bush in the 1980s, and was drafted to work as counsel for his 1994 gubernatorial campaign. In 1995, he appointed her to the Texas Lottery Commission. After working as a lawyer in Bush’s presidential campaign, she came to Washington with him in 2001.
Throughout her career, Ms. Miers has been committed to public service. In addition to her extensive involvement in the State Bar of Texas and the American Bar Association, Ms. Miers has been an elected official, a statewide officeholder, and a strong advocate of pro bono work.For example, while she served as President of the State Bar of Texas, Ms. Miers also logged 125 pro bono hours handling an immigration and naturalization case for Catholic Charities of Dallas.
LinkMiers, Harriett:
Miers is a Dallas-based lawyer and (former) chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission. The former president of the State Bar of Texas and Dallas City Council member has done legal work for Bush and his political committee. As chair of the lottery commission, Miers came under fire when former commission executive director Lawrence Littwin sued the state's lottery operator, GTECH, for allegedly pressuring Miers to fire Littwin. Littwin and his attorneys have suggested throughout the proceedings that GTECH was allowed to keep its state lottery contract in exchange for former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes' silence. Barnes, a former GTECH lobbyist, stated under oath that he helped George W. Bush enlist in the Texas Air National Guard as an alternative to going to Vietnam 31 years ago.
Achebach blog, WP:
Posted at 11:25 AM ET, 10/ 3/2005
Harriet Miers: More Than Just a Bush Crony?
Crony is an ugly word, and we abjure it this morning, even though the definition of "cronyism" ("favoritism shown to close friends, esp. in political appointments to office") might conceivably be applicable to the current situation. Nor is it fair to call Ms. Miers a cipher, as the definition, "a person or thing of no importance or value; nonen y," doesn't apply to a highly intelligent and hard-working person who has managed to rise to the highest level of the president's innermost circle of obscure and deeply mysterious loyalists. Indeed we should all give Ms. Miers the full benefit of the doubt, and assume that as Supreme Court justice she will turn out to be Louis Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter and Oliver Wendell Holmes rolled into one.
That said, the confirmation hearings should prove to be fascinating, since the typical custom of examining a nominee's judicial record will not be a viable option. Even looking through the clips, we note that Miers is reticent to the point of shy, virtually unquotable, someone who is comfortable being so low-profile as to be essentially invisible. Apparently she is very detail conscious. We learn this from Legal Times, which recently ran a profile of Miers that was hardly flattering (and borderline mean):
"She has also earned a reputation as exacting, detail-oriented, and meticulous -- to a fault, her critics say. 'She can't separate the forest from the trees,' says one former White House staffer...
..."One former White House official familiar with both the counsel's office and Miers is more blunt. 'She failed in Card's office for two reasons,' the official says. 'First, because she can't make a decision, and second, because she can't delegate, she can't let anything go. And having failed for those two reasons, they move her to be the counsel for the president, which requires exactly those two talents.'
[On the Scotusblog this morning, Tom Goldstein offers an interesting analysis of the coming confirmation battle: "The themes of the opposition will be cronyism and inexperience. Democratic questioning at the hearings will be an onslaught of questions about federal cons utional law that Miers in all likelihood won't want to, or won't be able to (because her jobs haven't called on her to study the issues), answer. I have no view on whether she should be confirmed (it's simply too early to say), but will go out on a limb and predict that she will be rejected by the Senate. In my view, Justice O'Connor will still be sitting on the Court on January 1, 2006."]
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Posted at 08:56 AM ET, 10/ 3/2005
Bush Nominates Totally Random Person for Court
The president carefully and deliberately selected as his nominee for the vacant Supreme Court position the first person he ran into in the hallway this morning. He has been up front about this technique all along, what he called "the dartboard approach." It could have been anyone -- an usher, a steward, a dog-walker, the guy carrying the nuclear codes. Liberals will rejoice that it wasn't Rove. It turned out to be his former staff secretary, Harriet Miers, currently the White House Counsel. Her qualifications for the position are as follows:
1. She's a lawyer.
2. She's tight with Dubya.
3. She works just a few feet from Bush and thus saved him from the hassle of a protracted search.
4. She has never been a judge and thus has no record that might generate problems in a confirmation hearing.
Presidents run into trouble when they start nominating for the Supreme Court someone who already has a professional record as a judge. The rule in Washington is: Anything you say can and will be used against you. The way to assure that your nominee will be confirmed is to make sure the nominee has no known beliefs, opinions, thoughts, notions, or anything else that might be criticized by Ted Kennedy and his Lefty hand-wringing friends.
To judge from initial reports, Miers is 60, single, no kids, no known friends, no hobbies, no favorite color. There are parking meters in Washington that have a higher public profile than Ms. Miers. Had she not appeared on television today, many people would argue that she doesn't actually exist. Conspiracy theorists will find it mighty su ious that the person who spent years handling all the paperwork passing onto the president's desk is now in a position to interpret what is and isn't a crime in this country. Extreme conservatives will be nervous, partly because being nervous is their chronic condition lately, and partly because they will fear that Ms. Miers may not be a truly zealous footsoldier in the conservative crusade. Liberals will denounce her and say she will destroy the fabric of the republic and bring on the new Dark Ages.
But no doubt Ms. Miers will surprise us all in various ways. Prior to today, she was known primarily as the person who cleaned up the Texas Lottery for then-Gov. Bush. Looks like she just won a lottery herself.
Ugh. Not qualified. Not demonstrably conservative. Her seemingly only qualification is that she's loyal to Bush.
This is worse than hiring Michael Brown to run FEMA, because at least Brown could be fired. We're being asked to take it on faith that Bush has found the best candidate. He's pretty much expended his trust.
There are dozens of better available selections.
Well, at least the Democrats will love her. Chuck Schumer is already praising the selection. Lovely.
Between this betrayal and the looting of the Treasury by the GOP Congress, right now I see no compelling reason to go pull the lever for Republicans next November. Their rhetoric about both limited government and traditional values is empty. They care only about their corporate cronies and their own power.
Miers recommended Alberto 'Torture' Gonzales...
Lightupthedarkness.orgAlberto Gonzales was recommended to Bush as counsel in the Texas Governorship by Harriet Miers, who has replaced Gonzales as White House counsel. Referred to by Bush as a "pit bull in size 6 shoes'', Miers is a former President of Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell and former chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission. Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell have given at least $65,000 to Bush campaigns and are major backers of tort reform. One case involved a unique law - passed under former Gov. George Bush - that blocked Texas consumers from recovering $6 billion in overcharges on car loans and allowed dealers to keep kickbacks secret. Two consumer groups have called on the Texas Legislature to repeal it. Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell were defendants of the litigation, which included auto dealers in Texas . Miers was also Chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission and responsible for a chain of events involving GTech, which ran the Texas Lottery, former Lt. Governor Ben Barnes, and accusations of kick-backs and illegal contracts. Yes, that Ben Barnes, who says he helped George Bush get into the National Guard. His original deposition on that subject was given in 1999, during this Texas Lottery Commission investigation, and has been permanently sealed.
I wonder, what should the qualifications of a suprme court judge be?
I like what I've read about her so far.
Well, score that for one thing about her I definetly do not like.
You don't like the fact that she's never been a judge?
Legal Beat: Bar Association Votes to Back Abortion Rights" August 12, 1992
DailyKOSSAN FRANCISCO -- After a contentious debate, the policy-making body of the American Bar Association voted to take a pro-abortion rights position at the organization's annual meeting.
The decision by the ABA, which followed Monday's vote by convention attendees to endorse the proposal, was a victory for abortion-rights advocates. At its annual meeting two years ago, the ABA adopted a neutral position.
Before the 276-168 vote yesterday, the ABA's new president, Michael McWilliams of Baltimore, told reporters that the ABA could no longer remain neutral.
"You can't dodge an issue just because it's tough," said Mr. McWilliams, a Baltimore lawyer, in remarks to reporters. "And you can't call abortion a non-legal issue."
The ABA's perceived alliance with one side or the other in the abortion debate was a matter of concern to lawyers attending the annual meeting here this week. Both the National Abortion Rights Action League and the National Right-to-Life Committee have been closely monitoring the ABA action, spokeswomen for the groups said.
"People who support this abortion rights resolution want the prestige of the ABA behind the pro-choice movement," Texas bar President Harriet Miers said Monday, arguing against adoption of the resolution supporting abortion rights.
What do you like?
I would think that a SC judge would have been at least a judge with some years of experience. This is the second non-judge, no-paper-trail nominee from dubya. Roberts was at least a cons utional lawyer and scholar.
Miers seems to be nothing but a politicized, hick corporate lawyer and law firm executive with no cons utional law experience. Yet another incompetent dubya crony whose main point is that he has been dubya's personal counsel.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100300504.html
Miers Gave to GOP Candidates, Democrats
The Associated Press
Monday, October 3, 2005; 10:47 AM
WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers contributed thousands of dollars to the campaigns of Republicans and Democrats, including Demcrat Al Gore's presidential bid in 1988 and former Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen's re-election campaign.
Through the years, Miers has contributed more than $10,000 to political candidates, focusing mainly on Texas Republicans such as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Rep. Pete Sessions and former Sen. Phil Gramm.
President Bush announced, Monday Oct. 3, 2005, that White House counsel Harriet Miers,the first women president of the Texas State Bar and Bushs former personal attorney, is his choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day OConnor. Bush made the announcement in the Oval Office in the White House. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
President Bush announced, Monday Oct. 3, 2005, that White House counsel Harriet Miers,the first women president of the Texas State Bar and Bushs former personal attorney, is his choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day OConnor. Bush made the announcement in the Oval Office in the White House.
Miers also has donated to Democrats. In 1988, she gave $1,000 to Gore, the Tennessee senator then seeking the party's presidential nomination. Gore won the Democratic nomination in 2000 and was defeated by George W. Bush in a disputed election.
Miers also gave $1,000 to another prominent Democrat _ Bentsen, the longtime Texas senator who in 1988 ran for re-election and also was Michael Dukakis' vice presidential choice on the Democratic ticket that year.
Bentsen won another term in the Senate, but the Republican ticket of George H. W. Bush and Dan Quayle defeated Dukakis and Bentsen.
Miers contributed $1,000 to the Democratic National Committee Services Corp. in 1988.
Miers gave some $5,000 to Bush's 2000 campaign and his 2004 re-election bid. She contributed $1,650 to the presidential inaugural committee that paid for some of the festivities surrounding Bush's swearing in to a second term.
Like Stout, some Conservatives are feeling betrayed by Miers choice...
ReutersWASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Monday nominated White House insider Harriet Miers for a Supreme Court vacancy, triggering outrage from conservatives who questioned whether she would uphold their political views.
Bush chose Miers, a lawyer but not a judge whose opinions on key issues likely to come before the high court are largely unknown, to replace the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor.
Conservatives who formed the bedrock foundation of Bush's re-election last November immediately protested the nomination as a betrayal of his campaign promise to pick conservative judges, pointing to her past campaign donations to Democrats.
The thing about her resume I don't like. Texas Lotto...
Man that thing really sucks.. it's not even Texas lotto anymore it's some multi state bs.
Not really. I don't think being a judge for any period of time actually makes you more qualified to be fair. And being a lower level judge is quite different from being a judge on the SCOTUS.
I like her emphasis on pro bono work and the fact that she's been a trailblazing woman. I'd like to learn more on where she stands on certain issues but I'm by no means ready to have a knee jerk reaction against her because Bush nominated her and her lack of time on a bench.
No, the Mult-state is in addition to the Texas Lotto....and the only reason I think it sucks is because I haven't won it yet.
The problem is not her lack of judicial experience.
There are plenty of justices in history who had never been justices prior to appointment.
What's troubling about Miers is that she has no experience in dealing with the overarching cons utional issues that are the stuff of Supreme Court cases. She has trial experience as a civil attorney, and from there has gone straight into administrative roles.
Maybe she thinks she's "conservative" now, but where's her intellectual anchor? Does she even have one? Kennedy thought he was conservative too. The best justices are like Roberts -- they base their decisions on process rather than results, and thus their opinions are the best thought-out and the strongest.
My guess is Bush picked her because she shares his views on the Global War on Terror as it affects civil liberties, and because he can.
Bush might as well have nominated Michael Brown to the Supreme Court.
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