Althouse: A conservative judge is not a political ideologue.

November 6, 2005

A conservative judge is not a political ideologue.

Here's that writing I said I was working on last Friday -- an op-ed about Alito in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

10 comments:

XWL said...: Prof. Althouse, aren't you in danger of having your coffee privileges revoked throughout Madison?

(or will they still sell you the stuff and just direct icy stares in the direction of 'that' conservative)

I know that defending a Republican judicial appointee with a long distinguished and thoughtful record doesn't automatically make you a conservative, but what about the barristas?

Also, was the link to your blog, at your insistence, or common practice for this paper?; 11/6/05, 7:41 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Great article. My only complaint is the line: "Picking someone because he or she is a predictable vote on a few hot-button issues is a travesty of the appointment power."

While I agree with you here, I think that the language may be more extreme than I am used to hearing from you. After all, presidents have appointed justices for all sorts of less than optimal reasons over the history of this Republic.

And, make not mistake, as I know you don't. Any Democratic nominee is going to have to face the same sort of litmus tests as Republican ones do (only, of course, in reverse). I have no doubt that Justices Breyer and Ginsburg were vetted as being 100% solid on abortion before being even considered for their posts. Support for affirmative action is probably almost as high a priority for nominees of a Democratic president - though not the hot botton issue of the co-president like abortion was/is.

Lest you take this as criticism, don't. It is one of the best articles I have seen yet on Judge Alito.; 11/6/05, 8:42 AM
Ann Althouse said...: XWL: I just put it in my description of myself and they left it in, so I don't know anything more general. You'd be surprised how little traffic it generates.; 11/6/05, 8:42 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Bruce: My language is no mistake. (There is one miswritten word in the op-ed, which I didn't have the chance to fix: one use of the word "ideology" should have been "methodology.") I absolutely do mean to be that critical of Presidents who pick the wrong people. The fact that something's been done in the past doesn't make it right.

And I want the next liberal President to pick a brilliantly qualified judicial liberal. I think there should be a mix of voices on the Court, a dialogue of the finest minds, and I've been saying that for many years. I am not myself a political ideologue, and I am not about getting people who vote like me on the Court.; 11/6/05, 9:17 AM
Matt said...: Isn't it better to say that a conervative judge is not NECESSARILY a political ideologue? Because it's certainly possible for a conservative judge (or a liberal judge) to be a political ideologue. (This is especially the case in state courts, where judge's are elected--obviously, Roy Moore is the clearest example.); 11/6/05, 9:30 AM
James said...: This is obviously their fault, not yours, but the deck headline is:

"Bush gets it right with his selection a distinguished judge"

Even with the shorthand that newspaper headlines are allowed to take, there's still definitely a "of" missing.

Very solid writing, delivering exactly the type of perspective and approach that we need to have regarding Alito, particularly before hearing actually begin.
It's also interesting in the context of the accompanying op/eds on the nomination that they are running.; 11/6/05, 9:37 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Matt: No, I absolutely mean it that way. Think about why.; 11/6/05, 10:50 AM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Professor Althouse: Has blogging changed anything about how you write?; 11/6/05, 1:32 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Ruth Anne: What do you mean? Obviously, blogging is writing, so writing it is a change. And it's led to other writing offers. I hadn't done op-eds until I started getting asked to do them because of the blog. It hasn't changed the style or content of my law review writing that I know of. I always had my own way of writing such things (and fighting with lawrev editors to keep it that way).; 11/6/05, 2:35 PM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Professor A: My question was open-ended on purpose. It was a 'just wondering' type of question.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply.; 11/6/05, 4:31 PM