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Supreme Court Politics - Miers Pushed 'Self-Determination' on Abortion

Miers Pushed 'Self-Determination' on Murder

Miers Pushed Legal 'Self-Determination' on Abortion
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers has argued "self-determination" should direct sensitive legal questions such as abortion. Speaking in 1993 to a women's group in Dallas, Miers said touchy issues in the legal system suggest "self-determination makes sense," The Washington Post reported after analyzing speech texts Miers turned over to the Senate Judicial Committee. Conservatives have voiced concern about Miers and whether President Bush had selected a true conservative to fill the Supreme Court position of retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The Post's disclosure of the "self-determination" philosophy -- that outside influences should not play a part in some decisions -- did not enhance the nominee's position with Bush's key constituency. Liberty Counsel President Mathew Staver told the newspaper: "I think it shows that she is a judicial activist. This concept of self-determination could clearly be read in support of things like abortion or same-sex marriages and it's a philosophy that cuts a judge loose from the Constitution." U.S. Senate hearings for Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court are set to begin Nov. 7.

Related
Miers in 1993 Speech Said 'Self Determination'
Should Steer Decisions on Issues Such As Abortion
Kaiser Foundation
Supreme Court justice nominee Harriet Miers in a 1993 speech said that "self determination" should be a guiding principle for government action on issues such as abortion, adding that "when science cannot determine the facts and decisions vary based upon religious belief, then government should not act," the Washington Post reports. In a speech to the Executive Women of Dallas, Miers -- then president of the State Bar of Texas -- said that although the "debate continues" to "once again criminalize abortions" or to "once and for all guarantee" abortion rights, those seeking to resolve such disputes should remember that "we gave up" long ago on "legislating religion and morality" (Becker, Washington Post, 10/26).

Conservative group starts anti-Miers ads
WASHINGTON -- A conservative group opposing Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers bought $250,000 of TV and radio time Tuesday to broadcast an advertisement nationwide calling for President Bush to withdraw her nomination. The White House said it was standing behind Miers. "She is going to be going before the Senate Judiciary Committee in less than two weeks," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said. "She looks forward to answering their questions. And I think that people should not try to rush to judgment on it."

Ex-lottery official may testify about Miers
He alleged in lawsuit that Miers protected
company because of Bush connection
The Senate Judiciary Committee is moving toward questioning a former Texas lottery official who has alleged that the state's Lottery Commission under Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers protected a contractor because one of its consultants had helped President Bush get into the National Guard.

GOP doubts about Miers on rise
Washington -- The drumbeat of doubt from Republican senators over the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers grew louder Tuesday as several lawmakers, including a pivotal conservative on the Judiciary Committee, voiced new concerns about her selection. Emerging from a weekly luncheon of Republican senators in which they discussed the troubled nomination, several lawmakers suggested that as Miers continues her visits on Capitol Hill, she is not winning over Republican lawmakers.

Miers On The Way Out
With pressure and criticism building against Harriet Miers, President Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, the White House is allegedly making contingency plans should Miers or the White House withdraw her name from consideration. Republican lawyers on the Senate Judiciary Committee staff said that Miers’ meetings with several senators have gone poorly, with Committee Chairman Arlen Specter remarking that she needs a “crash course” in constitutional law. A conservative political consultant and the leader of a conservative interest group, both unnamed and with close ties to the White House, told the Washington Times that the administration is making calls to outside conservative consultants on what to do should Miers’ name be withdrawn. The conservative consultant said he received a call on this matter from Sara Taylor, director of the Office of White House Political Affairs. Taylor and the White House both deny making any calls.

Thinking About Harriet Miers
There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth among conservative pundits over George W. Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, and understandably so. Miers is, for all practical purposes, a blank slate. Those who trust Bush, such as James Dobson, can project their faith in him onto her. Those who do not, including many who just a year ago were firmly in the Bush camp, fear that she may turn out to be another David Souter, the quite liberal justice appointed by a previous, ostensibly conservative President George Bush on a "trust me" basis.

Miers Nomination Losing U.S. Public Support, Gallup Poll Says
Harriet E. Miers's embattled U.S. Supreme Court nomination is losing public support, according to a new poll that shows Americans oppose her confirmation by a margin of 43 percent to 42 percent. Support for Miers has slipped since an earlier survey taken Oct. 13-16 when 44 percent said they favored confirmation and 36 percent opposed it. Both polls were conducted by the Gallup Organization for Cable News Network and USA Today. Some conservative Republican senators continue to question Miers's qualifications and have asked the White House to give the Senate Judiciary Committee more information about her. Conservative activists say Miers has a thin record because she was never a judge.

Judiciary Questions Dobson, Bauer on Miers
Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), their respective party leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking "conservative leaders" about conversations they had with White House officials regarding the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Two conservatives who have been questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee include Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, and Gary Bauer, head of Campaign for Working Families.

Posted by Editor at October 26, 2005 09:48 AM