Vermont to Leahy: Mess with Texas

posted October 7, 2005

The nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court shouldn’t come as a surprise. Still, Bush’s choice of a longtime, close confidant and ally is, we’re sure, not what Sen. Patrick Leahy and others had in mind when they sat down with the president just weeks ago to talk about judicial nominations.

Miers is not the qualified candidate that Leahy and others sought in return for their votes for John Roberts. With a lack of any experience on the bench, her corporate-heavy resume reveals no deliberative or constitutional background that would serve the interests of the people of the United States.

As Sen. James Jeffords pointed out, given her lack of a judicial record, committee hearings will be critical to learn more about how Miers would approach the law. But by failing to strip the cloak of secrecy from Roberts’ judicial temperament during his testimony before their panel, Leahy and the other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have set a dangerous precedent. They will be hard-pressed to demand answers from Meirs after they were satisifed with none from Roberts.

Click here for the full text of this story in our subscriber's area.