Confusion Abounds in Pro-Family Camps Following Bush's SCOTUS Nomination
by Jody Brown, Allie Martin, Bill Fancher, and Ed Thomas
October 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - Early indications are that President Bush's pick to replace Sandra Day O'Connor has successfully confused and divided his conservative support base. While several pro-family leaders have adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude, a report out today could cause their wait to be short-lived -- and what they see to cause them pause.
According to a report by WorldNetDaily, conservatives and family advocates may have something to worry about concerning the nomination of White House counsel Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court. WND says it has learned the native Texan is on record as being in support of the establishment of the International Criminal Court, homosexual adoptions, and women in combat. These findings, notes the Internet news service, are "unlikely to ease the concerns of those who were expecting Bush to fulfill his promise to name a justice in the mold of Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia" -- both regarded as solid conservatives on the high court. (See related story)
At the same time, LifeNews.com -- a pro-life Internet website -- is reporting that Miers is a longtime member of Valley View Christian Church, an evangelical church in Dallas, where she has been a Sunday school teacher as well as a member of the missions board for ten years. Her pastor, says the report, is a staunch pro-life supporter; and another Valley View pastor -- when interviewed about Miers -- impressed a pro-life radio talk-show host to cause that radio personality to state for the record that the court nominee "stands for the protection of life -- born and pre-born .... and she stands for the authority of the text of the Constitution." (See related story)
It also has been revealed that Miers has contributed to the presidential campaigns of both Democratic and Republican candidates.
A Conservative Judicial Philosophy? It's Unclear...
So where does that leave conservatives and pro-family advocates on the Miers nomination? Evidently, pretty much undecided. For example, an attorney with the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy says he is skeptical about the president's latest SCOTUS nominee. Steve Crampton says little is known about Miers when it comes to issues such as abortion and homosexual rights.
"We increasingly, on both sides of the aisle, now look to the need for a written record of a candidate's views on various issues -- and to my knowledge, Ms. Miers doesn't really have any record," Cramption offers. "The first place you go [to look for the judicial philosophy of] a judge is opinions that he or she has actually written. With somebody that's never served on a court, you at least look for legal essays and analyses and so forth -- and I don't know of any of those on Ms. Miers."
Crampton is also concerned about Miers' close ties to the American Bar Association. "I, for one, left the American Bar Association -- as did many conservatives -- many years ago because of their political positions, in particular on the issue of abortion," he explains. "They have been strong supporters of abortion, and lately increasingly active on homosexual rights and all kinds of other leftist kind of issues."
Crampton says it is unfortunate that it appears President Bush has missed a rare opportunity to choose a strict constructionist for the high court.
That said, the founder of one of America's largest pro-family organizations says he is willing to give Miers the benefit of the doubt on her support of conservative views -- largely because of the president's track record with judicial appointees. James Dobson of Focus on the Family stated on Monday that on at least the issue of judges, Bush has lived up to his campaign promises with court appointees at all levels.
"He made it very clear the kind of judge that he would appoint -- and he was not equivocal about that at all," Dobson commented on Fox News. "And to this point, he has a wonderful track record of appointing people who are consistent with that philosophy -- and we believe he has done it again."
Dobson added that he has noted positive comments from Mier's political colleagues in Texas and her fellow church members. So he accepts her characterization as a political conservative and evangelical Christian -- for now. As he says in a press release: "[O]ne cannot know absolutely about matters of integrity and philosophy until a jurist is given the tremendous power and influence of their position. All we can say now is that Harriett Miers appears to be an outstanding nominee for the Supreme Court."
Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, calls the Miers nomination a "surprising but inspiring choice." Predicting she will be a "great addition" to the Supreme Court, he describes the nominee as a woman of "great integrity, remarkable accomplishment, with a fine legal mind."
On the other hand, conservative icon Gary Bauer -- while pointing out positives such as Miers' church affiliation and contributions to pro-life groups -- notes among other things, the nominee was head of the lottery board in the Lone Star State. "[That's] hardly something that will inspire religious conservatives," Bauer observes.
He also has reservations about Miers' lack of a paper trail. "I have a great deal of confidence in President Bush and his judicial selections," he says, then adds: "However, in this case, he has given us a nominee with even less of a written record than Chief Justice John Roberts." Therefore, says Bauer, he will wait -- "along with millions of other Americans" -- until the confirmation hearings to gain a better sense of Miers' judicial philosophy.
Other pro-family spokespersons are taking the wait-and-see approach. Concerned Women for America's Jan LaRue says her organization had hoped to be able to come out with a "strong and cheerful endorsement." But at this point, she says, "we have to wait until we get more information" on the nominee.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council echoes that sentiment. "[O]ur lack of knowledge about Harriett Miers, and the absence of a record on the bench, give us insufficient information from which to assess whether or not she is indeed in that mold" of current justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
But Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida offers his assessment: "Trust -- but verify." Kennedy, like Dobson, says because of the president's track record thus far on judicial appointments, "there is good reason to trust the president that Miss Miers is...someone in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas." The ministry leader suggests that her record as a lawyer, her long association with President Bush, her "self-designation as a strict constructionist," and her efforts to make the American Bar Association neutral on abortion, all indicate Miers has a "conservative judicial philosophy."
Finally, Tom Fitton of the group Judicial Watch is cautiously optimistic. He says while little is known about Miers now, more will be known about her soon enough.
"She's going to have to explain herself -- or the White House is going to have to explain -- her views on the judiciary in a broader fashion," he advises. But he is hopeful she will turn out to be what conservatives hoped for.
"It's the president's choice in the end," Fitton acknowledges, "and he has chosen other good conservatives to serve on the bench -- and Ms. Miers has been involved in that process. So they all know what we're expecting."
Fitton thinks the president believes he is giving his supporters exactly the type of Supreme Court nominee they expected.
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