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10 Apr 2008 09:03 am

Clinton On SCOTUS?

A reader writes:

Hillary Clinton is not fit for the Supreme Court. Stop talking about it. It will not and should not happen.

This is not a partisan comment, just simple fact. The clearest example is also the one most ready at hand. Harriet Miers was a lawyer at a very large and prestigious Texas law firm for almost twenty years. She eventually became the president of that firm and the president of the Texas Bar.

She then served as White House staff secretary, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, and finally White House Counsel. In short, no matter what your politics, this is a distinguished legal career, and clearly puts her near the top of her profession. BUT, she was universally (and rightly) deemed unfit for the Supreme Court. Because, among other reasons, she had never served as a judge, she had no publicly articulated judicial philosophy, and she had not demonstrated the type and degree of intellect that would suggest she could capably serve on the highest court in the land.

Hillary Clinton, for her part, worked for a similar number of years in a less distinguished law firm, in a smaller legal community. Since 1992, to my knowledge, she has not practiced law or served in any legal or judicial capacity. In short, as a lawyer, Senator Clinton has a less impressive resume than did Harriet Miers, and clearly has at least the same deficiencies identified above, and if nominated would richly merit a similar fate. This is not to say that Senator Clinton has not had a tremendous career that should be admired. But it ain't a legal career, and she has no more claim to the gifts of a Supreme Court Justice than did Ms. Miers.

Finally - why do your misguided references to Senator Clinton as a potential Supreme Court Justice merit yet another reply? Because the Supreme Court does not need (and likely could not stand) to be further debased by a nakedly political appointment like the one you suggest. No one, and I mean no one, would pick Senator Clinton as a Supreme Court nominee based on apparent legal talent. And putting her there would confirm the most cynical assumptions about how politics works, and how decisions are made, in this country.

So, stop already, okay?

Actually, I don't think the professional legal model is the only one that works for SCOTUS. Clinton is easily smart enough to get up to speed on esoteric issues; and she would fit the model of a political figure adding legislative experience to the bench.

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