So said a 1993 memo, released today by the Clinton Library. The memo, addressed to an attorney in the White House counsel's office, was co-written by Ian Gershengorn (who has a high position today in the the Solicitor General's office). Bill Clinton proceeded to choose Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the opening on the Supreme Court (but Breyer did get the next seat that opened up).
Also in the memo:
"His opinions suggest an individual who falls somewhere between moderate and conservative on the ideological spectrum.... One suspects [Breyer] does not have (or refuses to utilize) any innate sense of justice....It gives you some idea of how liberal a judge needs to be to be considered liberal by a liberal President. And yet Bill Clinton chose Breyer next. And I'd like to see the memos on Ginsburg. The people I knew around here at the University of Wisconsin Law School at the time called her a conservative. After her activism as a lawyer, they called her a "disappointment" as a Court of Appeals judge. If there's something called "the ideological spectrum," where do you think the center is? It's rather silly to think that the center is wherever the 5th vote happens to be on the Supreme Court we have at any given moment. Plenty of people think they're all too conservative.
"One cannot envision him being a staunch defender of civil rights. Nothing in his jurisprudence will give racial and ethnic·minority groups or the elderly or handicapped, much to cheer about.... Conservatives will be thrilled if Judge Breyer is appointed."
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This was not too long after Brennan and Marshall retired, replaced by Republican nominees. So Breyer and Ginsburg must have been disappointing to liberals expecting another Brennan or Marshall.
Well gollleee Althouse? Am I chopped liver or what? "Plenty" of people believe they're all too conservative. Where does that leave me, when I think a few of them are too danged liberal?
"Where does that leave me, when I think a few of them are too danged liberal?"
But you didn't say they're ALL too liberal. That's why I decided not to put a parallel statement for conservatives. Your comment itself shows why you shouldn't feel disincluded. I didn't think "plenty" of people thought they were ALL too liberal.
If it weren't for Justice Thomas, however, I would have said it.
Define plenty.
Ten?
Plenty? Well, if one want the S. Court to use a strictly Constitutional framework and subsequently strike down a vast array of laws and regulations then one might see their current timidty as overly conservative, sure. Add those in with people who think the current Justices are overly right-leaning and maybe you've got plenty.
"One cannot envision him being a staunch defender of civil rights. Nothing in his jurisprudence will give racial and ethnic·minority groups or the elderly or handicapped, much to cheer about..."
Liberal, non-activists need not apply?
One thing you have to concede about Breyer: he's the only one on SCOTUS who has a scintilla of sophistication regarding STEM.
"Define plenty. Ten?"
I don't go around asking people, so I'd just be guessing, but within my world of lawprofs, I feel that at least 50% of them would say that all of the Justices are too conservative. Somebody test that, will you?
"The people I knew around here at the University of Wisconsin Law School at the time called [Ginsburg] a conservative."
Yikes.
Sotomayor was originally made a federal judge by George W. Bush. Kagan is a practical, sensible person.
Where's the passionate, all-out liberal on the Court? There's no one like William O. Douglas in the old days, nobody bringing the lefty fire.
Technically, the center is located at the national charter and constitutional jurisprudence. Practically, it is located somewhere left of true center, with a progressive drift.
There's no one like William O. Douglas in the old days, nobody bringing the lefty fire.
1958 Mike Wallace interview
"Sotomayor was originally made a federal judge by George W. Bush."
Not George W., George H.W. Bush. And I am sure that she was not the choice of the Bush administration legal staff. As I recall, NY had a senator from each party in those days (Moynihan-D, D'Amato-R), and they had an agreement dividing recommendations for judicial appointments between them. Presumably, Moynihan sent up Sotomayor's name at the behest of the NY legal establishment.
"Where's the passionate, all-out liberal on the Court? There's no one like William O. Douglas in the old days, nobody bringing the lefty fire."
Where's the reason to be passionate when you're the establishment, which the left has been in the law (regardless of who's president and which party's nominees have a SCOTUS majority) for generations?
Given the view of people like the guy who wrote the memo calling Breyer a wishy washy "moderate" lacking a (leftwing) sense of justice or concern for civil rights (as defined by the Left), I guess the rest of us should be grateful that the judges allow us any voice at all in the running of the country. I assume that error will be corrected with a few more Democratic appointments to the Supreme Court.
"Not George W., George H.W. Bush."
HW, yes. Sorry. She was elevated to the Court of Appeals by Clinton.
I would love to see Lino Graglia on the Court. A sensible and authentic conservative.
"Innate sense of justice" means "leftist".
The memo writer is just a tad arrogant, it seems.
Kagan is a practical, sensible person.
Where's the passionate, all-out liberal on the Court? There's no one like William O. Douglas in the old days, nobody bringing the lefty fire.
Practical and sensible enough to get herself on the Court. We will have to wait to see how much liberal fire she brings. My cynical guess is that we have not really seen what she actually believes yet.
Hope you are right though.
"It gives you some idea of how liberal a judge needs to be to be considered liberal by a liberal President."
Or it makes you think that this memo was disinformation, designed to be leaked.
Also, how come judges never "evolve" to the right? Right?
The Democrats have been very skillful in getting justices on the Court who vote in lock step with their liberal ideals. The GOP seems to get the wild cards--Stevens and Souter on the left, and moderates who can surprise you like Kennedy, Roberts and O'Connor. Much as the Democrats worry about the Scalias and Thomases that the GOP tries to put on the bench, the GOP doesn't have the best batting average when it comes to picking reliably conservative justices.
This is why the next presidential election will be important--if the Democrats win, they're very likely to fill at least another two slots on the Court, considering the ages of a number of these justices. And Obama at least has been picking them young enough to ensure decades of reliably liberal votes.
It's rather silly to think that the center is wherever the 5th vote happens to be on the Supreme Court we have at any given moment.
That would be silly, especially considering that the center happens to be precisely where I am at any given moment.
I don't think you would find many who think that they are all too liberal, but I think that you could find plenty who think they are all too statist.
I think part of the problem is framing. In a rational world, people who advocate for communism or Venezuelan level socialism should be viewed with the same level of disdain as people who advocate for totalitarian theocracy. On the left, such views might keep you out of elected office, but you can still find a home in academia, where you can get paid to publicly advance your positions. As liberal as a Breyer or Ginsburg might be, you can always point to someone far more liberal, therefore Breyer and Ginsburg seem less extreme.
There is no such career path for a right-wing extremist. Anyone who tried to advocate for a theocracy would be universally shunned. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in this country who would advocate for government funds to be given to a church ( something that is done in Germany and some other European countries. )
Because the right does not support actual extremists it makes it easier for the left to portray reasonable right leaning people as extremists.
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