October 03, 2005

Sunstein on Miers

University of Chicago law professor scratches his head when comparing Miers to previous nominees:

She might be superb, but her record and experience certainly do not compare to those of recent nominees. She has neither been a judge nor had much experience with the Supreme Court itself. There's nothing comparable to the appellate work of Chief Justice Roberts, or the judicial and academic work of Breyer, Ginsburg, Scalia, and Bork. Even Souter and O'Connor, with their thinner records, had judicial opinions to evaluate.

On political grounds, there are at least equivalent questions. We appear not to have any sense of her general approach to constitutional law. From the public record, it was possible to give at least a rough and general evaluation of all or almost all of the recent nominees. Apparently that's not true here.

A reasonable conclusion is that this nomination should be viewed with uncertainty and puzzlement. A silver lining: The uncertainty and puzzlement should not divide people along political lines.

"Evaluating Supreme Court Nominees"
[via Protein Wisdom]