G.W. Bush Nominees Were Unabashed Ideologues

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John G. Roberts

Re: AP SPIN METER: GOP Senators Shifting Standards On Supreme Court Nominees, Henry C. Jackson, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — So, Senator, how much does judicial experience matter when considering a Supreme Court nominee?

To Republicans, it depends on conservative issues. For their ideology? Then it doesn’t take much experience at all.

Bush nominated Roberts for Chief Justice because of Bush v. Gore. Remember that? It was the worst ruling by the Supreme Court in US history. Roberts represented Bush and wrote the brief. He was instrumental in successfully arguing the case. Once the Supreme Court gave Bush the Presidency, Bush later nominated him for DC circuit judge when it became available. This began the worst case of cronyism in recent history. Roberts wasn’t qualified for the Circuit. Then, after he had only served about a year as a DC circuit judge, Bush nominated him for the second time, this time for the US Supreme Court. Before that, he had no judicial experience. His experience that would qualify him for associate justice was “thin” to say the least, but chief justice? Bush propelled him to the top for winning Bush v. Gore. His views? This is from Wikipedia, “As a lawyer in the George H. W. Bush administration, Roberts signed a legal brief urging the court to overturn Roe v. Wade“. Do you need anything else? If you do, then consider that Roberts recused himself from Hamden v. Rumsfeld, a case that challenged the Bush administration’s ability to try detainees at Gitmo in military tribunals, because he had already ruled on this case as a member of the DC circuit. He ruled in favor of Bush, of course.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito

Samuel Alito had more experience as a judge, but looking at his rulings you have to wonder if experience alone qualifies him. While serving on the US Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, Alito wrote in the dissent on Doe v. Groody that police, while serving a search warrant, conducting a strip search of a mother and her 10 year old daughter did not violate the mother and daughter’s constitutional rights because of “qualified immunity”, a legal defense for state and federal employees protecting them from civil actions. This is the guy that Bush figured would make a fine supreme court justice. This and other rulings were questioned during his nomination hearings. Alito was nominated by a vote of 58-42, the second lowest vote for a supreme court nominee in US history.

The right wing is crying about the nomination of Elena Kagen who is a moderate, yet these two right wing hard-liners were confirmed and are serving on the Supreme Court. This is a dark time for justice in America.

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