RE: Harriet Miers - Supreme Court Nominee

From: Stanley R. Conrad (conrads@stjohns.edu)
Date: Thu Oct 06 2005 - 16:02:38 PDT


Nanna-
 
If derogatory statements have been directed anywhere in this thread, I think they've been focused through Miers on the administration's disastrous record of cronyism (most glaring recent example is, of course, appointing a failed Arabian Horse judge to run FEMA). Questions about Ms. Miers' qualifications and views are of supreme importance to anyone who cares about, or is involved in the law. And to the degree that the administration resists the release of documents written by her, enquiring minds should be asking why.
 
Comparing her case to Justice Powell is silly, actually. Read the biographical information you posted. Powell was not a crony of the administration that appointed him. Ms. Miers may be qualified -- we may never know -- but describing her as a "crony" is not a political judgment. It's a fact.
 
Stanley
 
=================================<
Stanley R. Conrad, JD/MLS
Reference / Special Collections Librarian
Rittenberg Law Library
St. John's University School of Law
8000 Utopia Parkway
Jamaica, NY 11439
conrads@stjohns.edu
718-990-2012 (voice)
718-990-6649 (fax)

        -----Original Message-----
        From: Frye, Nanna [mailto:Nanna.Frye@jud.ca.gov]
        Sent: Thu 10/6/2005 6:24 PM
        To: Stanley R. Conrad; Samuel E Trosow
        Cc: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
        Subject: RE: Harriet Miers - Supreme Court Nominee
        
        

                I am tired of the derogatory statements and intimations that
        Harriet Miers is unqualified solely because she has no prior judicial
        experience. Are you prepared to state that all nominees must have prior
        judicial experience? If so, then you are saying that U.S. Supreme Court
        Justice Lewis Powell was unqualified for the position. Here is his
        biographical information posted by the Supreme Court Historical Society.
        
        LEWIS F. POWELL, JR., was born in Suffolk, Virginia, on September 19,
        1907, and lived most of his life in Richmond, Virginia. He was graduated
        from Washington and Lee University in 1929 and from Washington and Lee
        University Law School in 1931. In 1932, he received a master's degree
        from Harvard Law School. Powell entered practice with a Richmond law
        firm, where he became a senior partner and continued his association
        until 1971. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air
        Force in Europe and North America. After the War, Powell resumed his law
        practice. He served as the President of the American Bar Association
        from 1964 to 1965 and of the American College of Trial Lawyers from 1968
        to 1969. In 1966, he served as a member of President Lyndon B. Johnson's
        Crime Commission. On October 21, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon
        nominated Powell to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate
        confirmed the appointment on December 6, 1971. Powell served on the
        Supreme Court for fifteen years. He retired on June 26, 1987, at the age
        of seventy-nine.
        
                Justice Powell is not a rare anomaly. One of the justices for
        the court where I work did not have judicial experience prior to his
        appointment and he is a most excellent jurist.
        
                              Nanna Frye, Law Librarian
                              Court of Appeal
                              San Diego, CA
        
        
        -----Original Message-----
        From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu] On
        Behalf Of Stanley R. Conrad
        Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 2:42 PM
        To: Samuel E Trosow
        Cc: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
        Subject: RE: Harriet Miers - Supreme Court Nominee
        
        Good point, Sam.
        
        It is of enormous importance to everyone involved in the law --
        certainly should be to law librarians. The fact that political issues
        factor into the nomination/confirmation process is wildly off point.
        The outcome of the nomination process here, ferreting out Miers'
        qualifications (or lack of them), her possible impact on the law for the
        next generation ... none of this should be trivialized by labeling the
        discussion "political."
        
        Unfortunately, as we've already heard, the administration is planning to
        refuse any/all requests for the work product she produced while under
        Bush's wing, justifying this with "executive privilege."
        
        We're apt to end up knowing much less about her than we knew about
        Roberts when he was confirmed.
        
        Stanley
        
        
        =================================<
        Stanley R. Conrad, JD/MLS
        Reference / Special Collections Librarian Rittenberg Law Library St.
        John's University School of Law 8000 Utopia Parkway
        Jamaica, NY 11439
        conrads@stjohns.edu
        718-990-2012 (voice)
        718-990-6649 (fax)
        
                -----Original Message-----
                From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu on behalf of Samuel E Trosow
                Sent: Thu 10/6/2005 4:54 PM
                To: Merring, Lynn
                Cc: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
                Subject: RE: Harriet Miers - Supreme Court Nominee
               
               
        
                The make up of the Supreme Court is an issue that has a profound
        affect on all
                of us. This goes for our personal as well as professional lives.
        Supreme Court
                nominations are few and far between. Unlike elections, which
        can be figured
                with some regularity, Supreme Court nominations are very special
        events. All
                the moreso when the balance on the court is so tenuous and
        important policy
                issues hang in the balance. As participants in the legal system,
        law librarians,
                like others certain should be engaged in the process. Trying to
        squelch
                discussion over a particular policy issue is an unfortunate, yet
        recurring
                occurance on this list, yet it comes up from time to time. All
        in all I think
                people on this list are quite capable of picking and chosing
        amongst the variety
                of topics on this board to read and respond to. We don't need
        self-appointed
                censors like yourself to tell us what is appropriate.
               
                But if you must have the discussion framed in terms of a
        research question to
                pass your own litmus test of propriety on this list, then what
        can you find out
                about her record that gives us any evidence about how she may
        respond to the
                important issues of the day?
               
                Sam Trosow
                University of Western Ontario
               
                ----- Original Message -----
                From: "Merring, Lynn" <LMerring@SYCR.com>
                Date: Thursday, October 6, 2005 4:46 pm
                Subject: RE: Harriet Miers - Supreme Court Nominee
               
> Could we not turn this into a political discussion board,
        please?
> If you've
> got a serious research issue about Mier, cool. If all you want
        to
> do is bash
> a political figure - not appropriate for this board.
>
> Lynn Connor Merring
> Librarian & Records Manager
> Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth
> Newport Beach CA 92660
>
> phone: 949-725-4023
> fax: 949-823-5023
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MGMEDIATOR@aol.com [mailto:MGMEDIATOR@aol.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 1:25 PM
> To: rshutt@netspace.net.au; law-lib@ucdavis.edu
> Subject: Re: Harriet Miers - Supreme Court Nominee
>
>
>
> Obviously she limits her contact to very small circles of men
        that
> she has
> met...we need much more than a big band as mr bush would have
        been
> betterserved wearing a Tuba when he made the
        announcement...sorta
> like the
> broadway play the music man with him confusing instruments as
> usual...orblowing on the wrong end of them....seems he has
        been
> allowed to be off
> script a lot lately as his inner circle faces criminal
        inquiries
> and knee
> surgery or are just plain out to vacation (or lunch)... and
        rumors
> also have
> it that he is hitting the bottle again....guess he needs to
        beware
> of not
> attempting to eat pretzels at the same time, we all know what
> happened last
> time...or do we???
>
> cheers.....& peace be with ya....
>
> In a message dated 10/6/2005 3:03:03 P.M. Eastern Standard
        Time,
> rshutt@netspace.net.au writes:
>
> Can any USA Law-Libber vouch for the accuracy of reports we
        are
> getting in our daily press here in Australia that Harriet
        Miers has
>
> described George W. Bush
> as "the most brilliant man (she) has ever met".
>
> If these reports are true, and if the good lady truly believes
        that
>
> assertion, ought not a big band be playing, "Don't Get Around
        Much
> Anymore" as her theme tune ?
>
> Just my two cents worth : - )
>
> Ron Huttner LL.B. (Hons)
> (Retired) Barrister, Solicitor, Legal Researcher and Law
        Lecturer
> Melbourne
> Australia
>
>
>
>
> Martin J. Gofberg, JD
> Equitable Solutions = Quality
> 100 Alnwick Road
> Malverne, New York 11565
> (516) 599-4606 Fax (516) 599-4640
> Cell (516) 984-5717
> Web Site at: www.martygofberg.com
> <http://www.mediate.com/martygofberg>
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