Will Harriet Miers care about Black people?
I’d like to identify a couple of reasons that Harriet Miers might be better for people of color than other possible Supreme Court nominees. I look forward to contrary perspectives.
Judicial Restraint: While we don’t know much about her approach to judging, we do know that Harriet Miers has talked about the importance of judicial restraint. With regard to affirmative action and the Voting Rights Act, some judges who purport to adhere to “judicial restraint” have construed the 14th Amendment and federalism to justify imposing their own contested policy preferences to either strike down or neuter civil rights protections created through our democratic process (i.e., conservative judicial activism). Developing a philosophy as to when a court should intervene involves time and concerted effort (some would say indoctrination), and perhaps Harriet Miers (like Justices Souter, O’Connor, and to some extent Kennedy) has not yet developed rigid views that are closed to reasoned debate.
Context-Specific Analysis: Like Justice O’Connor, Harriet Miers has been a politician. Miers is also known for agonizing over decisions. The politician in Justice Miers may prompt her to recognize the need for compromise rather than hard-line absolutes that ignore important values and perspectives. Her approach may be one that involves honest, pragmatic, context-specific analysis and balancing, rather than decisionmaking that effectively denies meaningful justice for real people and hides behind formal, mechanical rules as an excuse for doing so.
This isn’t to say that such an approach won’t put Justice Miers in the wrong place on some issues. For example, Justice O’Connor’s focus on the “stigma” of race and the danger of “balkanization” in Shaw v. Reno—without any real showing of injury to a plaintiff—led to her conclusion that a “bizarrely-drawn” African-American district could constitute a 14th Amendment violation. (Note that “formalists” like Justices Scalia and Thomas also overlooked standing issues and opted to advance their policy preference of preventing the state from acknowledging race.) But Justice O’Connor also recognized that there was a political aspect to the issue and voted 8 years later to defer to predominantly African-American districts in Easley v. Cromartie (indeed, she voted that a district court’s factual findings were erroneous and against Justices Scalia and Thomas). Justice O’Connor also recognized that an affirmative action program should be examined in a context-specific manner (rather than being viewed as identical to an invidious racial classification) and she was the crucial fifth vote in the University of Michigan law school affirmative action case (again, O’Connor voted against Justices Scalia and Thomas).
Harriet Miers may have a true commitment to judicial restraint, and her background in politics may endow her with an ability to engage in context-specific analysis that appreciates the real human costs of the Court’s decisions. These traits may make Harriet Miers the best possible alternative for people of color.
Comments
This is my first post so please forgive the fact that I initially posted the comment to an unrelated article.
Mr. Overton,
Your analysis is consistent with my view of the nominee. I've practiced law in Dallas since 1992 and clerked in 1990 and 1991. During her tenure on the Dallas City Council Miers exhibited both moderation and a sensitivity to race matter, even though she was undoubtedly backed by the the white business establishment. Older members of the Dallas black bar have spoken favorably about Miers. Also, her firm, in which she was managing partner, was in the forefront of attracting minority law grads to majority firms. However, one cannot necessarily infer her support for such an affirmative action program from the position of her firm.
The timing of her tenure on the Dallas City Council is important in that racial tension was high. The federal courts mandated single-member districts which, for the first time, gave minorities a voice on the city council, and mandated the dispersement of public housing from from highly concentrated areas of poverty to integrated middle and high income areas.
Authentic leaders in the black community have lauded Miers for her positions during those times of change. In fact, she could be viewed as being a friend of the black community, although I don't think I can go that far -- probably "acquaintance" is more appropriate.
While I have become comfortable with Miers on race matters I am less so with respect to Roe. She has been extremely consistent in her views on abortion. Although those personal views do not necessarily translate into hostility to Roe, it does not bode well
Posted by: Anonymous | October 11, 2005 06:26 PM
lapsing,ourselves orbiters elector.electrician globes
Posted by: Anonymous | June 28, 2006 05:14 PM
batched!scolding consternation Durers Iowa snafu,remonstrating?
Posted by: Anonymous | June 30, 2006 12:01 PM
Tillich:dealer dynamo stitches marketing:inner attribute
Posted by: Anonymous | June 30, 2006 07:01 PM
Egyptianizations?recurrently planetoid reminiscences submarines come
Posted by: Anonymous | July 1, 2006 05:46 AM
proofread spooned relationally deafest seceding .
Posted by: Anonymous | July 1, 2006 08:12 AM
sex stories rape bondage- pictures man rapes dog
Posted by: Ubbac | October 10, 2006 08:04 AM
sex stories rape bondage- pictures man rapes dog
Posted by: Ubbac | October 10, 2006 08:05 AM
ionolsen19 So interesting site, thanks!www_4_2
www_4_3
www_4_4
www_4_5
www_4_6
www_4_7
www_4_8
www_4_9
www_4_10
www_4_11
Posted by: karel | October 16, 2006 12:13 PM