Justice for all...

I made a couple of comments to a post at Villainous Company concerning the Harriet Miers nomination. I'd like to expand on them a bit, but the discussion there is much broader than I want to deal with, so I'll do so here.

My first point is simply this: a nominee for Supreme Court Justice should be the most qualified person available that can be confirmed. That should be the goal.

To those ends, and to inspire public confidence in the Court and its rulings, we should seek a nominee who is highly credentialed--one who has demonstrated a "mastery of the material," and who has distinguished herself through her commentaries on that material.

It seems clear that, on all accounts, Ms. Miers is not that person. No one has made the case that she is highly qualified, or even well qualified--let alone most qualified--to sit on the Court. Where we should be hearing accolades like "brilliant legal mind" or "constitutional scholar," instead we get phrases like "hard working" and "dedicated public servant." I have no doubt that Miers is a bright and talented person of good character, or the president wouldn't have nominated her. But this is a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. We are right to expect a proven superstar, not an unknown.

I reject the argument that we'll get to know Miers during the confirmation hearings. Confirmation hearings are theater at best and circus at worst. Senators will give their speeches, Miers will say what she needs to say to be confirmed, and then we'll all wait to see what we ended up with. None of it will come close to providing the depth of background material needed to properly vet a nominee.

Meanwhile, the bulk of our time and energies between now and the moment she is sworn in will be spent in scrambling to find an answer to the Big Question: who is Harriet Miers? This just shouldn't be—not when there are so many acknowledged "supreme" candidates available. It's a source of concern and disappointment.

That we must now spend so much time and energy simply getting to know Ms. Miers and discussing the huge gaps in her resume is disappointing for another reason as well—one which I will address in a subsequent post.