 HONORABLE
MENTIONS |
FAQ | The Bush Court? | George W. Bush: On the Record | Possible Bush Nominees | Polls | Advocacy | Appointments | Comments
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JURIST: The Legal Education Network presents this mini-Guide to future Supreme Court appointments in the Bush Administation, featuring our exclusive running log of potential Court appointees as mentioned in the national press.
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Frequently-Asked-Questions
- Why is it so widely expected that President Bush will nominate one or more
justices to the High Court?
This is one of the longest periods of stability, without a vacancy on the Court, in history. It has been nearly 8 years since the a justice stepped down - it has been 180 years since the court has gone this long with a new member.
The speculation also arises from the number of justices near what is generally thought of as retirement age: Chief Justice William Rehnquist (76), Justice John Paul Stevens (80), and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (70). Justices Ginsburg, O'Connor, and Stevens have battled cancer, while Chief Justice Rehnquist has struggled with back problems. The more cynical political analysis posits that several of the Justices who were appointed by Republican presidents have awaited the return of the White House to G.O.P. hands before thinking of offering resignations.
- What is the process for making a Supreme Court nomination?
Unlike federal district court judgeships, where proposed nominees often traditionally originate from members of Congress, the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice is very much driven by the President and senior White House staff, with input and legwork from the Department of Justice. Starting from a "short list" of desirable or plausible candidates, staff analyze past judicial decisions, writings, speeches, employment history, and other information to develop a profile of a candidate and to identify any potential obstacles to their successful confirmation.
- What is the role of the Senate?
Under Article II, section 2, clause 2 of the Constitution, the role of the Senate is to provide its advice and consent to a nomination. Key Senators, particularly those on the Senate Judiciary Committee, typically are consulted in advance by the White House about the merits of potential nominees. After a nomination is made, it is assigned to the Judiciary Committee. The Committee holds a public hearing and a subsequent vote is taken to report the nomination to the full Senate. A majority vote of the Senate is required to confirm a nominee.
- What is the role of the American Bar Association?
Since 1948, a committee of the American Bar Association (currently the 15-member Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary) has evaluated candidates for the federal bench, including nominees for the Supreme Court. The ABA panel considers professional competence, judicial temperament, and integrity, and concludes its evaluation with a rating of "well qualified," "qualified," or "not qualified." The evaluations are provided to the Justice Department and to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although the ratings are not binding in any sense, they historically have been given considerable deference in the process of considering candidates for judicial nomination.
On March 22, 2001, the Bush Administration stated it will no longer provide the ABA with names of candidates for appointment to federal judgeships prior to their nomination, thus ending any opportunity for an ABA evaluation to enter into the decision to nominate a candidate to the bench. The ABA has announced that it will continue to provide evaluation of the professional qualifications of nominees for the Administration, the Senate, and the public.
- What is the process for selecting a Chief Justice?
The Chief Justice is not selected by his or her peers, but rather is separately nominated and confirmed. In other words, if a sitting Associate Justice is nominated by the President to serve as Chief Justice, a separate nomination and confirmation proceeding takes place.
- What do you make of the current list of "Honorable Mentions"?
It reflects the different strategic options available to any President. The list contains some of "true believers" whose addition to the Court is assumed to solidify a particular ideological perspective (although surprises are always possible); "stealth" candidates who have garnered little public attention; current and former Senators, whose nomination prospects are considered strong by virtue of their membership in the Senate "club"; and a few wild cards -- provocative candidates with strong personalities who could well shake up the current dynamic of the Court.
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1 Jan Crawford Greenburg, "Supreme Opportunities for the Next President," Chicago
Tribune, Mar. 12, 2000, at Perspectives p.1.
2 Rising Tide
(Republican National Committee), Winter 2000.
3 Angie Cannon, "The Supremes' Future," U.S. News &
World Report (5/15/00) at 18.
4 "Who Will Be the Next Supreme Court Nominee?," National Journal (6/10/00).
5 "Who May Be Leaving?," Houston Chronicle (5/25/00).
6 Holding Court with Joan Biskupic, Washingtonpost.com (3/17/00).
7 Inadmissible, Legal Times (8/14/00).
8 David G. Savage, "Supreme Stumper," ABA Journal (Oct. 2000) at 26.
9 Neil A. Lewis, "Presidential Candidates Differ Sharply on Judges They Would Appoint to Top Courts," New York Times (Oct. 8, 2000) at 28.
10 Heir Apparent?, The American Lawyer (Sept. 28, 2000).
11 Nicholas D. Kristof, "For Bush, His Toughest Call Was Whether to
Enter the Campaign," NY Times (Oct. 29, 2000) at 18.
12 Joan Biskupic, Next President May Name Up to Three Justices, USA Today (9/29/00)
13 Jonathan Broder, "Supreme Issue: High Court Likely to Be Affected by November Elections," Fox News (9/13/00)
14 Lyle Denniston, "Gore, Bush Consider Choices for Supreme Court Openings," Copley Newspapers
15 Geraldine Sealey, A Retirement Revolution?, ABC News (6/21/00)
16 Law Chat with Professor Michael Dorf, CNN.com (7/27/00)
17 "Supreme Dream", Tony Mauro, Law.com (11/06/00)
18 Alexander Wohl, Contenders for the High Court, The American Prospect (Nov. 20, 2000)
19 Jonathan Groner, Bush May Need to Show Restraints in Judge Picks, Legal Times (Nov. 13, 2000)
20 Scott Carson, "Election Could Tilt Balance of Supreme Court," Kansas City Star (Nov. 4, 2000)
21 Lyle Denniston, "Politics, Race Cloud Naming of Judges to Fourth Circuit," Baltimore Sun (Jan. 8, 2001)
22 Neil A. Lewis, "Hurdles to Agenda," The New York Times (Jan. 2, 2001)
23 Siobhan Roth, Fourth Circuit Surprise, Legal Times (Jan. 1, 2001)
24 Bill Rankin, "Move to Right Seen: The President-Elect and the Supreme Court," Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Dec. 17, 2000)
25 Robert Cohen, "Election Circumstances Make Court a Knotty Problem for Bush," Newhouse News Service (Dec. 5, 2000)
26 Charles Bierbauer, Politics and the U.S. Supreme Court, CNN (January 19, 2001)
27 Foster, "When Bush Goes Courting," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Feb. 3, 2001)
28 Stuart Rothenberg, "Think the Ashcroft Battle Was Bad? You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," Roll Call (Feb. 5, 2001)
29 Lee Davidson, "Hatch May Still Have a Shot at Top Court," Deseret News (Feb. 7, 2001)
30 Kirk Victor, "A Ticking Time Bomb in the Senate," National Journal (Feb. 17, 2001)
31 Robert Scheer, "The Right Now Has the Might," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Feb. 22, 2001)
32 Washington Whispers, U.S. News & World Report (May 7, 2001)
33 The Edge with Paula Zahn (Fox News Network, April 23, 2001)
34 Ramesh Ponnuru, "Speedy Gonzales: Bush's Fast-Rising Counsel," National
Review (April 30, 2001)
35 Stuart Taylor, Jr., "Psst! Pass It On! The Successor to Rehnquist Will Be
...," The National Journal (April 28, 2001)
36 Joan Biskupic, "High Court Choice Complex for Bush," USA Today (Apr. 20,
2001)
37 Joan Biskupic, He Could Be the Next Supreme Court Justice, USA Today (March 18, 2002)
38 Jason Pierce, Gonzales Gets a Look for Possible Supreme Court Vacancy, The American Center for Law and Justice (March 25, 2002)
39 Lloyd Garver, Let Sleeping Lawyers Plea, CBS News, (March 7, 2002)
40 Tony Snow, Brit Hume, Juan Williams, Mara Liasson, ”Political Roundtable," Fox News: Fox News Sunday (March 17, 2002)
41 Tom Curry, Bush’s Right to Pick Justices at Issue, (March 22, 2002)
42 Tony Mauro, Is Justice Kennedy Aiming for Chief Seat?, (March 1, 2002)
43 Paul Kane, "Senate Girds for Judicial Battle," Roll Call (April 8,2002)
44 David G. Savage and Janet Hook, “The Nation; Stakes Are High in Push for Latino Court Nominee,” Los Angeles Times (April 11, 2002)
45 Carl Cameron, Republicans Push Hispanic Court Nominee, Fox News (April 11,2002)
46 Bush’s D.C. Circuit Court Nominee, Washington Weekly Review, Christian Coalition (April 11, 2002)
47 Tom Brune and Elaine S. Povich, “Fight Looms Over Judge Nominee,” Newsday (April 15, 2002)
48 Pete Williams, High court vacancy appears unlikely: History suggests otherwise, but no signs of retirement (May 2, 2002)
49 Dana Milbank, “Perhaps He Doesn’t Want to Be a Justice…” Washington Post (May 7, 2002)
50 “Republicans’ New TV Show Designed to Woo Hispanics,” South Florida Sun Sentinel (May 8, 2002)
51 Special Report with Brit Hume: Interview with Alberto Gonzales, Bush Lashes Out at Democrats Over Judicial Nominations, Fox News (May 9, 2002)
52 “It’s his political views they are concerned about,” American Political Network, The Hotline, vol. 10 no. 9 (May 9, 2002)
53 Squabbling Over Judges (May, 9 2002)
54 White House: Senate Confirmation Process Marks Bad Trend (May 9,2002)
55 Sonya Ross, “Bush presses Democrats to approve judicial nominations,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (May 10, 2002)
56 Jesse J. Holland, “Most of Appeals Court Nominees Still Awaiting Senate Action,” The Legal Intelligencer (May 10, 2002)
57 Stuart Taylor, Jr, “Enough Already! Confirm the Worthy Nominees,” The National Journal (May 11, 2002)
58 Shelby Hodge, "Gonzales draws a bright spotlight,” Houston Chronicle (May 13, 2002)
59 “Placing Bets on Bush Bench,” Legal Times (May 13, 2002)
60 “Democrats Foresee No Fallout on Judges”, Roll Call (May 13, 2002)
61 Anthony Cardinale, “With Supreme Court Stable, Journalist Plays ‘What If?,’” Buffalo News (May 16, 2002)
62 American Political Network, “Conservatives less than pleased with justice in waiting?” The Hotline, vol. 10 no. 9 (May 16, 2002)
63 Bob Edwards and Juan Williams, An Interview with White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, National Public Radio, Morning Edition (June 4, 2002)
64 Jonathan Groner, “Stakes Higher in Judicial Nominations Game: Applicants for Supreme Court Weather Interviews Marked by Concerns over Politics, Death Penalty,” The Recorder (June 4, 2002)
65 Tony Mauro, Retirement Rumors, American Lawyer Media (June 10, 2002)
66 Charles Lane, Justice Kennedy’s Future Role Pondered, Washington Post (June 17, 2002)
Members of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President subject to the approval
of the Senate. To ensure an independent Judiciary and to protect judges from partisan
pressures, the Constitution provides that judges serve during "good Behaviour," which has
generally meant life terms. To further assure their independence, the Constitution provides
that judges' salaries may not be diminished while they are in office.
JURIST welcomes your comments on this issue...
The Bush Court?
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Ralph G. Neas, Insight Magazine (January 2002)
Tom Curry, MSNBC (March 22, 2000)
Randall Kennedy, American Prospect (November 23 1999)
Jacci Howard Bear, About.com (October 2000)
Michael Dorf, CNN.com (September 27, 2000)
David Yalof, Law.com (June 28, 2002)
Charles Bierbauer, CNN.com (January 19, 2001)
Seth Gitell, Boston Phoenix (April 10, 2000)
George W. Bush: On the Record
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Possible Bush Nominees
Sources
(in some instances, it may be important to "consider the source"):
Polls
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Advocacy
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Appointments
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Comments
* Kent Markus took over updating of Honorable Mentions after the death of his friend Tony Sutin, Dean of the Appalachian School of Law and founding editor of this section.
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