Miers: Not Off To A Good Start

Ken AshfordSupreme CourtLeave a Comment

Yeah.  She needs to do some serious studying.  From Volokh:

Oh my; this, if true, could be devastating to her chances:

Her relatively thin paper trail adds greater importance to her personal meetings with senators and to the committee hearing that is expected to begin in about three weeks. While generally well received, Miers has had a few awkward moments, including one during her Wednesday session with Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

In an initial chat with Miers, according to several people with knowledge of the exchange, Leahy asked her to name her favorite Supreme Court justices. Miers responded with "Warren" — which led Leahy to ask her whether she meant former Chief Justice Earl Warren, a liberal icon, or former Chief Justice Warren Burger, a conservative who voted for Roe v. Wade . Miers said she meant Warren Burger, the sources said.

Who refers to a justice by his first name? It appears that she either: a) actually likes Earl Warren but then realized that stating such would be deadly to her cause and quickly backtracked (probability: low), b) actually likes some other justice and got this justice’s name confused, in which case she still doesn’t look well informed (probability: high), or c) actually likes Warren Burger and was on intimate terms with him (probability: nil). Even if Burger really is whom she meant, right-wingers are likely to be unhappy with the answer.