Harriet Miers nominated to SCOTUS

Today President Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, where, if confirmed, she will replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers is currently White House counsel, and has never served as a judge.

People all over the political spectrum have been a-buzz over the nomination. Right-wingers are outraged that Bush didn't pick a more staunchly conservative judge with a clear judicial record. Some of them are undoubtedly afraid of a Souter-esque flip. From the other side of the aisle are cries of cronyism and a general lack of credentials for the position. (See e.g., Derek's latest post)

It is by no means unprecedented to nominate a non-judge to the Supreme Court. In fact, according to Emily, it's only a recent trend to tap judges for the nation's highest court. It would certainly make things a bit easier to know a potential Justice's views before they take the bench, but that doesn't mean that someone who's never been a judge can't be a good Justice. Personally, I'm a bit concerned with any Bush nominee because it is unlikely that anyone he nominates will hold the same views that I do on how best to interpret the Constitution. If anything, a lack of a clear judicial record demonstrating determined conservatism/originalism/strict constructionism (is that even a word?) gives me a bit of hope that a Miers may have a different outlook. But of course, it's impossible to say. What one does as a lower court judge may not even be a reliable indicator -- Souter had a judicial record and still managed to "hoodwink" the Right. And it's important to remember that a lower court justice is compelled to follow SCOTUS precedent in a stricter fashion than Supreme Court Justices are.

I guess that, like the Far-Right, I'm a bit surprised that Bush seems to be showing some moderation here. I understand the concerns and fears of the Left, but it could be worse. Overall, I'm pretty much with the vast majority of people on this one -- I just don't know yet.

As one might expect, Brendan has excellent coverage over on his blog.

On a lighter note, I have to say Miers looks a little scary. This picture was the first I'd seen of her; I'd heard the name before, but I guess the White House counsel doesn't pose for pictures too often. At first I thought it might be a bad picture, but then I found this. And Brendan's post a couple of weeks ago about Roberts's eyes got me thinking of a certain passing resemblance...

I really don't mean to pick on Miers though; certainly we all wrinkle with time. And I remain undecided as to what I think of her as a SCOTUS nominee. There's very little to go on right now -- which is why we have nomination hearings, after all.