Posted on 05/26/2012 2:08:35 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Paul Clement, who served as U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush and is now a lawyer in private practice, is the favorite of many conservatives. Clement argued last month for the Supreme Court to strike down Obama's 2010 healthcare law, and he is defending laws that ban same-sex marriage and that target illegal immigrants.
Clement, 45, would be "at the top of any short list right now," said Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, a group that advocates for conservative nominees.
Asked about Clement, Mary Ann Glendon, a co-chairwoman of Romney's Justice Advisory Committee, voiced "unbounded admiration" for him.
"He's the type of person who fits the mold that the governor has pledged to look for," Glendon said, adding that "it's much too soon to speculate about names."
Mentioned as often as Clement is Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Kavanaugh, 47, sits on a court that produced four sitting justices. He has deep roots in Washington, D.C., having worked in the Bush White House and assisted in the 1990s investigation that nearly led to President Bill Clinton's ouster.
Kavanaugh is known for elaborate opinions such as a 65-page dissent he wrote in November exploring how an 1867 tax law barred courts from considering Obama's healthcare law until 2015.
A third possibility, Judge Diane Sykes, is often mentioned as a likely Romney nominee if the next person to leave the Supreme Court is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court's senior woman justice. Ginsburg has survived cancer twice.
Sykes, 54, was appointed to a Chicago-based U.S. appeals court in 2004, overcoming Democratic criticism of her record in abortion-related cases.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
But you're singing his praises on FRee Republic.
You weren't posting that garbage six months ago, were you?
Besides, your argument fails. If the GOP gets a majority of the Senate, we ride it out and go forward with a Supreme Court of eight or seven justices, if need be, to fight off Barky's Communist jurists.
You think you'll know what sort of judges Romney will nominate. Well, guess what? He'll be thinking about his own fame, his own legacy -- not your ideas about whom to nominate.
My own guess is, he'll nominate Souters so we can institutionalize a "gay seat" on the Supreme Court, just like there is now a "black seat" and a "wise Latina seat" and a "Communist lesbian" seats and a "Jewish seat" -- oh, wait, make that two "Jewish seats".
From the Romney website:
The Chairpersons of the Advisory Committee – Judge Robert Bork, Professor Mary Ann Glendon, and Richard Wiley. . . .
Members Of Mitt Romney’s Justice Advisory Committee:
•Alex Acosta •William Allen •Alex Azar •H. Christopher Bartolomucci •Lizette Benedi Herraiz •Bradford A. Berenson •Elliot S. Berke •Brant Bishop •Michelle Boardman •J. Caleb Boggs III •Robert Bork •Steven Bradbury •Lee A. Casey •Michael Chertoff •Jeffrey Clark •Gus Coldebella •Roderick De Arment •George Dent •Michael R. Dimino •Thomas Dupree •Charles Eskridge •Allen Ferrell •Timothy Flanigan •Sergio J. Galvis •Deborah A. Garza •Tom Gede •Mary Ann Glendon •Alan Gura •Jimmy Gurulé •Catherine Hanaway •Jennifer Hardy •W. Thomas Haynes •Jay Jorgensen •Jay Kanzler •Roy Katzovicz •Richard Klingler •Christopher Landau •Stephen Larson •Katie Lev •Wendy Long •Fred Lowell •Raymond B. Ludwiszewski •Maureen Mahoney •Roman Martinez •Gary McDowell •Brent McIntosh •Grant S. Nelson •Mark Nielsen •Howard C. Nielson, Jr. •Robert O’Brien •Kevin O’Connor •John O’Quinn •Elizabeth Papez •Matthew Papez •Nels Peterson •Thomas Phillips •Stephen Presser •David Rivkin, Jr. •Jeffrey Rosen •Gene Schaerr •Jay Stephens •John Sullivan •Richard Wiley
Uh, I don’t hate anyone.
But past performance is known to be a very accurate indicator of future behavior in office.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney chose very liberal candidates for that State’s Supreme Court. He now says he had no choice in the matter.
Yeah, sure.
I suspect that Governor Romney didn’t quibblle or put up much of a struggle on the issue, being more intent to get along and be accepted.
We Republicans don’t need a doormat as president.
I’ve got junk knees. I can’t get down there for Romney anyway.
I'd hardly call pointing out the irrefutably obvious singing Romney's praises.
Like most Freepers, Romney was my fifth choice, but he's who we ended up with, and for the first four years, at least, we can hold his feet to the fire.
We're not going to be able to hold up a SCOTUS nomination for 3 years, so The One will be able to put whatever commie/muzzy he wants to.
Per the "gay seat", you're forgetting Elena Kagan, are you not?
No, I'm pointing out there is a decent chance he'll be better than Obama on judicial appointments
You weren't posting that garbage six months ago, were you?
Actually, when everyone here was swooning over Newt I was telling them to get behind Santorum before it was too late. Looks like I was right on that one. FR waited until it was too late.
Besides, your argument fails. If the GOP gets a majority of the Senate, we ride it out and go forward with a Supreme Court of eight or seven justices, if need be, to fight off Barky's Communist jurists.
What color is the sky in your world? The Senate will never stand up to Obama like that. Too many of "our" guys are willing to compromise to avoid the bad PR that would ensue. Remember, we had a Republican Senate and a Republican president and we still got the "Gang of 14" compromise in 2005.
You think you'll know what sort of judges Romney will nominate. Well, guess what? He'll be thinking about his own fame, his own legacy -- not your ideas about whom to nominate. My own guess is....
Now who doesn't know?
...My own guess is, he'll nominate Souters so we can institutionalize a "gay seat"
Obama already gave us the gay seat with Kagan. Therefore, your assumption is flawed.
The bottom line is this: I may not know what sort of judges Romney will nominate but damn sure know what sort Obama will nominate.
I'd rather take a chance on Romney having to replace Scalia, Kennedy or Ginsburg than letting Obama do it.
“...interesting that Anthony Kennedy is one of the most powerful people in the country.”
And he wasn’t even Reagan’s first choice for that seat. He came in on the heels of another Ginsburg’s ‘scandal’ that wouldn’t be a ‘scandal’ today.
Please get Ginsburg an iron lung and pay for a 24/7 doctor, just to be sure that she makes it until next January 21.
On the other hand, if Obama is reelected, the next five words should send chills down your spine: Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder.
“On the other hand, if Obama is reelected, the next five words should send chills down your spine: Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder.”
That sounds like the tag line to a horror movie.
Romney's picked a solid-gold co-chair in Glendon, who had the character to tell Notre Dame where to stick its Laetare Medal if it didn't disinvite Pres. Pro-Abort as commencement speaker.
He will try to appoint Mormons.
It is un-Constitutional that Anthony Kennedy is one of the most powerful people in the country.
Romney is happily locked into his opposition to same-sex marriage——which rocketed his numbers into the stratosphere (when Ohaha stupidly supported it).
So Romney’s USSC nominees MUST reflect that stance.
Fortunately for us, that usually means the nominee is pro-life, as well.
Well that would be a breath of fresh air. Very conservative voting block, probably the most socially conservative voting block there is.
Romney Rewards one of the State's Leading Anti-Marriage Attorneys by Making him a Judge
Romney told the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2004, that the "real threat to the States is not the
constitutional amendment process, in which the states participate,
but activist judges who disregard the law and redefine marriage . . ."
Romney sounds tough but yet he had no qualms advancing the legal career of one
of the leading anti-marriage attorneys. He nominated Stephen Abany to a District Court.
Abany has been a key player in the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association which,
in its own words, is "dedicated to ensuring that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision
on marriage equality is upheld, and that any anti-gay amendment or legislation is defeated."
- U.S. Senate testimony by Gov. Mitt Romney, 6/22/2004 P>
"Romney announces he won't fill judicial vacancies before term ends
Despite his rhetoric about judicial activism, Romney announced that
he won't fill all the remaining vacancies during his term - but instead
leave them for his liberal Democrat successor!
Governor Mitt Romney pledged yesterday not to make a flurry of lame-duck
judicial appointments in the final days of his administration . . . David Yas,
editor of Lawyers Weekly, said Romney is "bucking tradition" by resisting the urge to
fill all remaining judgeships. "It is a tradition for governors to use that power to appoint judges
aggressively in the waning moments of their administration," Yas said.
He added that Romney has been criticized for failing to make judicial appointments.
"The legal community has consistently criticized him for not filling open seats quickly enough
and being a little too painstaking in the process and being dismissive of the input of the
Judicial Nominating Commission," Yas said.
- Boston Globe 11/2/2006
“The Massachusetts Republican Party died last Tuesday.
The cause of death: failed leadership.
The party is survived by a few leftover legislators
and a handful of county officials and grassroots activists
who have been ignored for years.
Services will be public and a mass exodus of taxpayers will follow.
In lieu of flowers, send messages to Republican voters
warning them about a certain presidential candidate named Romney.”
- Boston Herald, 11/12/2006
"In 2006, while Romney was chairman of the National Republican
Governors Association - a group dedicated to electing more
Republican governors - his own hand-picked Republican successor
as governor lost badly to the Democrat, despite the fact that Republicans
have held the governorship in Massachusetts since 1990. Romney largely
ignored the Massachusetts elections and spent most of the time
during the campaign out of state building his presidential campaign.
He came back and publicly campaigned for the Republican candidate
the day before the general election!
“Locally, this is a rebuke to Mitt Romney and checking out within six months
after being elected and having accomplished almost nothing,”
[Jim] Rappaport [former chairman of the state Republican Party]."
- Boston Globe, 11/8/2006
Oh noes! He might actually choose conservative judges. What will that do to the ‘he’s worse than Obama’ narrative raging in conservative internet discussions?
Yeah, sure.
Have you actually investigated the process by which judges are appointed in MA?
This is getting way ahead of yourself.
USSC is ripe for some replacements, and I’d rather have Romney’s replacements than 0’s; but, I won’t be expecting any hardcore strict-constructionists from Romney, they’ll be like GHWB or Nixon/Ford selections.
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