Dafydd ab Hugh issues a challenge to the blogosphere, calling on bloggers from all sides of the Harriet Miers nomination to come up with questions for Miers' confirmation hearings. I think this is an excellent idea, especially for those who continue to view this nomination with skepticism. What questions would relieve our doubts? What kind of answers would confirm them?

I'll start off with a couple that address my reservations with Miers as a Supreme Court candidate. I may add to this as I think through the challenge a bit more, so keep checking back for updates.

As the chief executive officer of a state agency, you once endorsed set-asides as a means of affirmative action. Do you still believe in that remedy as a Constitutional method of achieving diversity? Do you think that the Constitution addresses the concept of "diversity" as an overriding state concern?

This really has been the one documented part of Miers' past that gives me the most trouble. It shows that Miers either cannot support a claim for a solidly conservative outlook, or else she can easily find herself manipulated by those around her. I want to know how she can reconcile her supposed philosophy of restraint and humility with her actions as president of the Texas State Bar. The argument may well exist; I'd like to see her make it.

Do you believe that the Constitution has an explicit right to privacy? Please explain how the precedent of Griswold applies here, and whether that case was decided correctly.

I don't expect an answer here on Griswold, but I'd like to hear how she approaches the demurral. I imagine every Democrat is ready to ask this one.

Give us your interpretation of judicial restraint as opposed to the concept of the living Constitution. Have you written or spoken in public about these competing points of view in the past?

I don't know that she has ever expressed much interest in judicial originalism. If she has, I'd like to know. If she hasn't, I'd like to know why she hasn't had much to say. It's been a pressing issue for conservatives for decades now. If she gives an overly facile answer, I'd be less likely to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Do you think that stare decisis should drive the overall judgment process of the Supreme Court, given the social disruption that overturning precedent can cause? Do you believe in the concept of "superprecedents"? Please explain Brown against Plessy to illustrate your answer.

Brown, of course, represents judicial originalism as an antidote to the judicial activism of Plessy. In the latter, the Court determined that it would be too difficult to eliminate Jim Crow and simply fit the law around the existing systems of apartheid. In the former, the Court took the appropriate look at the text of the 14th Amendment and original intent of Congress in passing it to reverse not just Plessy but dozens of following decisions that established "separate but equal" as at least the same kind of superprecedent that Roe has become.

Maybe I'd even ask her if she believes in a hand up, not a handout -- just so I could pre-empt Kennedy.

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» I oppose the Miers nomination. from Small Town Veteran
NZ Bear wants everyone in the Ecosystem to take a stand on the Harriet Miers nomination so he can track the pulse of the blogosphere here. NZ, I oppose the Miers nomination. I've been leaning strongly against the Miers nomination [Read More]

Tracked on October 25, 2005 1:50 AM

» I oppose the Miers nomination. from Small Town Veteran
NZ Bear wants everyone in the Ecosystem to take a stand on the Harriet Miers nomination so he can track the pulse of the blogosphere here. NZ, I oppose the Miers nomination. ... [Read More]

Tracked on October 25, 2005 1:51 AM

» More Questions to Ask Harriet Miers from Big Lizards
UPDATE: Some suggested cases below! I just thought of something that might actually be valuable to the confirmation process, at least to the extent that members of the Senate bother to listen to constructive suggestions. I hope we all, Loyalists... [Read More]

Tracked on October 25, 2005 3:12 AM