Douglas Kmiec
Douglas Kmiec
Douglas W. Kmiec is an American legal scholar, author, and former U.S. ambassador. He is the Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law. Kmiec came to prominence during the United States presidential election, 2008 when, although a Republican, he endorsed Democrat Barack Obama. In July 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Malta. He was confirmed by the Senate and served for close to two years as...
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Here is somebody at still a young age who had a very strong institutional appreciation for the role of the Supreme Court in the federal system and worried far more maturely than some of his senior counterparts of the effect on our constitutional system.
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The Rehnquist court ... attempted to restore dual sovereignty and the conception that states have functions that cannot be displaced by the federal government.
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We should look for a court with a lowered profile, a court that tries to resolve cases but one that does not discover new constitutional rights.
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He has effected a sea-change in American constitutional jurisprudence. His sophisticated revival of federalism, in particular, renews that which makes democracy work -- not in theory, but on the ground. It gives divergent voices a chance to be heard and prevail, not in one venue, but in 50. Had the Court heeded his wisdom more thoroughly, there would be less nonsense about red and blue division and far less cultural warfare.
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I had the distinct impression he didn't think it was a good idea. There was a real risk of the proposal reducing the intended role of the Supreme Court as the final voice.
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Edith Jones would in all likelihood trigger strong opposition.
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Primarily, the case is about the United States wanting to be treated no better, but certainly no worse, than the way that every law firm and business firm and potential employer for law students is treated when they come to campus.
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Broad claims of authority and broad claims of illegality are equally suspect.
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William H. Rehnquist is by nature quiet and humble. His legacy is that he has shown us how to disagree with civility.
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The answer is no. The judge has no moral responsibility for the laws that his community enacts.
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He's actually demonstrated that he's grown comfortable with the public interaction in a way that wasn't entirely true when he had his own confirmation hearings, where he appeared tentative.
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I don't think among the favored categories of gender and ethnicity, beyond Al Gonzales, the president has an obvious choice.
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I expect intense pressure on the president from the loyal opposition to nominate as moderate a voice as he can find for the O'Connor replacement.
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So judges are responsible for abiding by the morality in their own lives, but they are not responsible for imposing that morality in judicial decision-making.