More controversy over Miers

DisruptiveHair · October 18th, 2005, 03:17 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/18/miers/index.html

Quote:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As the White House renewed its attempts to rally backing for Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, her views -- or non-views -- on a key privacy case appeared to ignite more controversy.

Miers spent much of Monday on Capitol Hill visiting with senators, among them Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter.

After their meeting, Specter told reporters that Miers said she believed the 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut -- a landmark ruling establishing the right to privacy -- was "rightly decided."

But when the White House took exception to Specter's comments, the Pennsylvania Republican released a statement saying Miers later called him to tell him he had "misunderstood" her answer. (Full story)

Specter said Miers, in the later phone call, told him she had not taken a position on either Griswold or the right to privacy, the legal underpinning for the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Specter's statement did not withdraw his comments about Miers discussing Griswold with him, nor did it offer a correction. But the statement said the chairman accepted Miers contention "that he misunderstood what she said."

Some conservatives have expressed reservations about Miers' nomination, and this latest back-and-forth over the issue of privacy -- the linchpin in abortion rights -- only deepened their doubts.

President Bush's nomination of Miers has divided even his supporters, many of whom had hoped for a nominee with a clear record of opposition to abortion rights.

Reacting to Specter's statements about his conversations with Miers on Griswold, Jan LaRue, chief counsel for the conservative group Concerned Women for America, said she was puzzled because Specter has a reputation for being precise about constitutional law.

"It sounds like he's being gracious. I mean, how could he get that wrong? It sounds funny to me," said LaRue, whose group has raised sharp questions about the Miers nomination. "That's artfully worded, isn't it?

LaRue said she baffled by the idea that there could have a miscommunication over such a seminal privacy case.

"This is going to be interesting to see how clearly she answers questions before the full committee, if we've already (seen) this kind of misunderstanding over something so simple," she said.

Texas justices back Miers
Miers' nomination has failed to attract widespread support from any part of the political spectrum, and the White House on Monday sought to remedy that.

The day kicked off at the White House where President Bush, flanked by six current and former justices of the Texas Supreme Court, addressed reporters.

"They are here to send a message here in Washington that the person I picked to take Sandra Day O'Connor's place is not only a person of high character and integrity but a person who can get the job done," Bush said.

O'Connor, who announced her retirement as associate justice in June, said she would remain on the court until her replacement is confirmed by the Senate.

Bush has described Miers as "a pioneer of law" in Texas, where she was the first woman to become a partner in her Dallas law firm and the first female president of the Dallas and Texas bar associations.

Miers has worked for Bush since 1994, most recently as White House counsel.

The kickoff event at the White House brought endorsements from the Texas contingent.

"Mr. President, we just all want to thank you for this nomination," said John Hill Jr., a Democrat who was chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1985 to 1988 and served with Miers on the Texas Lottery Commission.

"We are excited about it, and we are here to try and let the people of America know what we all know, which is that she is an absolutely fantastic person and a great lawyer and will make a great judge," he said.

"We actually know Harriet Miers; I hope that still counts for something, somewhere," Hill said. "I'd trust her with my wife and my life."

Miers has never served as a judge, but Hill said that is not a critical drawback.

"You get the briefs, you hear the arguments, you study the facts, you study the law and you try to make a square decision based on the law and the Constitution, and I don't think it matters that much whether you were a judge before," he said.

Meetings with senators
Miers has left few clues to her position on the issue of abortion in her previous public posts, which include service on the Dallas City Council and as Bush's lottery commissioner when he was governor of Texas.

Even her membership in an evangelical church has failed to ignite support among anti-abortion activists and conservatives.

In a sign of how much anger the nomination has already generated among conservatives, the chairman of the American Conservative Union wrote an opinion piece saying the Bush administration "will find it difficult to muster support on the right without explaining why it should be forthcoming."

"We've swallowed policies we might otherwise have objected to because we've believed that [Bush] and those around him are themselves conservatives trying to do the right thing against sometimes terrible odds," David Keene wrote in The Hill newspaper.

"We've been there for him because we've considered ourselves part of his team. No more."

Among the 18 senators Miers visited Monday were Democratic members of the Judiciary Committee Charles Schumer of New York and and Dianne Feinstein of California.

After their meeting, Schumer said she "offered very, very little" information on her judicial philosophy and declined to answer questions about her views on cases involving the right to privacy and her work inside the White House.

"I didn't learn answers to so many important questions," he said.

But Schumer said Miers "disavowed completely" a published report that two of her friends in Texas had privately assured conservative leaders that she would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

"She said, 'No, nobody knows my views on Roe v. Wade,'" Schumer said. "She said, 'No one can speak for me on Roe v. Wade.'"

Hearings in November
An aide to Specter said Monday the senator hoped to reach an agreement by Tuesday with the committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, to start Miers' confirmation hearings as soon as November 7.

But both Republican and Democratic aides said privately the start date could slip to November 14 because Democrats are pushing for an extra week to review Miers' record.

And Specter told reporters Monday night that the start date for the hearings could also slip to give Miers more time to prepare.

"It is unfair to start the hearings before she's ready," Specter said.

Grimmlok · October 18th, 2005, 06:33 AM

ROE V WADE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE A FUCKING ISSUE.

God, get out of womens wombs you fascist pricks!

DisruptiveHair · October 18th, 2005, 06:51 AM

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Originally Posted by Grimmlok

ROE V WADE SHOULD NOT EVEN BE A FUCKING ISSUE.

God, get out of womens wombs you fascist pricks!

I agree, but we have to face reality. Abortion is a wedge issue...it has been for years and there's no reason to think it will not continue to be a wedge issue.

buttmunch · October 18th, 2005, 07:05 AM

It's only a wedge issue because the repugs have made it one. If they just let it go, you wouldn't see many getting up in arms about it. Same with gay marriage. They made it a wedge issue in the last election and haven't said boo about it since. This woman, by the way, hasn't a chance in hell of being confirmed.

DisruptiveHair · October 18th, 2005, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buttmunch

It's only a wedge issue because the repugs have made it one. If they just let it go, you wouldn't see many getting up in arms about it. Same with gay marriage. They made it a wedge issue in the last election and haven't said boo about it since. This woman, by the way, hasn't a chance in hell of being confirmed.

I don't think she'll even make it as far as confirmation hearings, but it will be an embarrassing climbdown for the Bush administration, that's for sure!