In a November 12 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman (for a few days more) Pat Leahy, a sizeable bunch of law professors oppose Michael McConnell’s nomination to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
What is noteworthy here is not so much that some professors oppose McConnell’s appointment but that they do so in such shrill, out of control language, regarding him as the second coming of Attila the Hun (or maybe even worse, Robert Bork).
Not only is he said, predictably, to be “outside the legal mainstream,” but he opposes “legal doctrines that form the bedrock of Americans
I particularly enjoyed the irony of where the letter ran, namely on a web site supposedly intended to promote an “Independent Judiciary.” Silly me, I always thought that an “independent” judiciary was one that was independent of crass political agendas like that of the Alliance for “Justice.” Apparently, it only means that the judiciary is supposed to operate “independently” of anything approaching conservative thought.
I really do think that McConnell would make a fine Judge. I found the attacks on him in the one letter to be very unfair.
He is clearly a conservative and some people will not vote for him under any circumstance because of this regardless of how well-qualified, intelligent, open-minded, and judicious he is.
It is clear from the letter on McConnell’s behalf that his former colleagues at the University of Chicago Law School think highly of him. Not to mention that many of these scholars are liberals–namely, Cass Sunstein, rumored to have been a potential appointee to the Supreme Court if Gore had won.
Judging the judge, revisited
Michael McConnell is Presidential Professor of Law at the University of Utah. His thinking is conservative, his reputation is sterling;
The letter against McConnell could seem “shrill” and otherwise worthy of derision only to somebody who takes it as a bedrock unquestionable principle that McConnell is within the mainstream and would be a good judge. In other words, you’ve skipped over the critical step of argument and gone straight to assertion that anybody who disagrees with your view belongs in a zoo. Nobody who doesn’t already agree with that assertion would find anything in your post to convince them, or even to nudge their thinking a tiny bit.
Sam Heldman,
I think that you missed the point of the post. Many of the people who signed on to the letter in support of Professor McConnell are liberals who do not support his view of the Constitution. They do, however, recognize that his views are legitimate and genuine, if not a bit misguided.
Some who signed on to the letter in support may even believe his views to be outside the mainstream. They support his nomination because he is an independent and fair-minded individual who happens to have beliefs that differ from their own.
Think of it this way. If the liberal/conservative spectrum were placed on a scale of 1-100, McConnell appears to have the support of those who fall between 1 and 90 (I think Sunstein is around a 90, anyway). Those on the extreme left with views that fall between 90 and 100 believe his views are so out of step as to justify disqualifying him from serving as federal judge.
Phil, I really don’t think that one can fairly infer that only the left-most 10% think of McConnell as someone who shouldn’t sit on the Circuit bench. There is certainly some evidence that he holds very right-wing views on some legal subjects, views that are not shared by the great majority of sitting judges. And there is some evidence that he (in what was, or at least seemed a lot like, applause for a judge who skirted the law to support a social agenda on abortion) has a less-than-perfect view of fidelity to governing law. So, some people can reasonably say “I disagree with his views, and I don’t trust him to refrain from imposing them willy-nilly.” I happen not to share that view, based on my hopeful hunches and inferences from the little information publicly available; but it is mere conjecture to say that only the “extreme” left would have those views. Heck, I know I’m to the left of at least two of the signatories to the anti-McConnell letter.
But, good news for you guys — you won this confirmation battle, and now we get to see how Prof. McConnell does! I hope that my faith in him is rewarded by wisdom from the bench.
Sam