So, correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't a Supreme Court nominee

[Redstone]

at least have been a judge, at least for a little while?

Wouldn't you think that would be a good item to inlcude in the list of qualifications? This woman is going to sit on the highest court of the land, and has never been in a position of deciding a case before?

But what do I know...

Redstone

[knowbody0]

1. brownie should have taught numbnut something

[tavalon]

2. It's not required

Sorry.

[Redstone]

4. Well, know it's not REQUIRED, all I'm talking about is a bit of

common sense, here.

You don't see anyone in the Army jumping from second looey to General in one promotion, do you?

Redstone

[HughBeaumont]

19. Why not? A second NG looey got to be president.

but seriously . . .

a) your name has to be "Bush" for that to happen and

b) it would never happen because someone named "Bush" wouldn't be in the Army proper.

[Somawas]

16. according to historychannel.com:

From the History Channel


The Constitution does not require that a justice on the Supreme Court have previous experience as a judge. Indeed, the Constitution doesn't require that justices even be lawyers. In the 1960s Walter Lippmann was repeatedly mentioned as a possible candidate for the High Court even though he lacked a legal degree and had never served as a judge. Fewer than half of the 108 people who have served on the Court had previous experience as judges. "And while judges do make up the biggest single biographical category," according to the NYT's Linda Greenhouse, "there have also been 25 practicing lawyers, 9 attorneys general or deputy attorneys general, 7 holders of other cabinet positions, 6 senators, 2 members of the House of Representatives, 3 governors, 2 solicitors general and 2 law professors." All of the current members of the Court except for Chief Justice William Rehnquist had served as judges before joining the Court. (Rehnquist was an assistant attorney general when Richard Nixon put him on the Court in 1971.)

[Jersey Devil]

3. I don't believe Earl Warren was a judge

He was gov of california but never a judge as I recall. I think there have been about 20 Supremes who have never been judges. But most have records as constitutional scholars, chairs of constitutional law at major law schools, etc.

[Fenris]

13. Nor was Abe Fortas.

There really are no requirements for an SC appointment. It's at the discretion of the President.

[corbett]

5. Gonzales And Rove Have Turned The Whole Thing On Its Ear

I could be persuaded to accept someone who hasn't been a judge to sit on the bench if that person demonstrated a very profound understanding of the constitution and related laws. This woman seems to specialize in *. The whole thing began when Rehnquist passed (may he rest in peace) and Roberts was nominated to be Chief.

That was a joke. No president or any party should nominate a neophyte to be chief. As soon as Senator Reid decided that Roberts' nomination did not warrant a filibuster, the door was opened to nominate someone like Meiers.

It's no coincidence, of course, that Meiers was the member of the White House legal counsel who helped assert privilege over the crucial Roberts cases while working for the Solicitor General.

[Walt Starr]

6. 36 SCOTUS Justice nominees were not judges

But every last one of them was an attorney.

[jody]

7. Joke: Lawyer’s bride married 12 times, still virgin.

A lawyer got married to a woman who had previously been married 12 times. On their wedding night, they settled into the bridal suite at their hotel. The bride said to her new groom, "Please, promise to be gentle. I am still a virgin."

This puzzled the groom, since after 12 marriages, he thought that at least one of her husbands would have been able to perform. He asked his new bride to explain the phenomenon.

She responded, "My first husband was a Sales Representative who spent the entire marriage telling me, in grandiose terms, how great it was going to be."

"My second husband was from Software Services: he was never quite sure how it was supposed to function, but he promised he would send me documentation."

"My third husband was from Field Services and repeatedly said that everything was diagnostically OK, but couldn't get the system up."

"My fourth husband was from Educational Services, and you know the old saying - 'Those who CAN, DO; those who can't, teach.'"

"My fifth husband was from the Telemarketing Department. He knew he had the order, but he wasn't quite sure when he was going to be able to deliver."

"My sixth husband was an Engineer. He told me that he understood the basic process but needed three years to research, implement, and design a new state-of-the-art method."

"My seventh husband was from Finance and Administration. He knew how, but he just wasn't sure whether it was his job or not."

"My eighth husband was from Standards and Regulations, and he told me that he met the minimum standards but regulations weren't clear on how to do it."

"My ninth husband was a Marketing Manager. Even though he had the product, he just wasn't sure how to position it."

"My tenth husband was a psychiatrist. All he ever wanted to do was talk about it."

"My eleventh husband was a gynecologist, and all he ever wanted to do was look at it."

"My twelfth husband was a stamp collector, and all he ever wanted to do was... God I miss him! So now I've married you, and I'm really excited."

"Why is that," asked the lawyer. "Well, it should be obvious. You're a lawyer. I just know I'm going to get screwed this time!"

[Call me Deacon Blues]

8. I want to be nominated for something . . .

I haven't got any qualifications either!

[DebJ]

10. hey that sounds like a good bumper sticker!

[jzodda]

9. many have not been judges at all

All have been lawyers though. In this case she will be the ONLY one on the court who was not a judge. That may actually be a good thing in some ways as she can come at issues with another lens.

As for comparisons to brownie? Thats kind of unfair. This woman headed up a major law firm with hundreds of lawyers and also headed the texas bar. Both firsts for a woman and in Texas? Thats even more remarkable as women lawyers have tough going there.

[Horse with no Name]

11. Not only that

her clients were corporations like Microsoft and Disney.

[Pepperbelly]

12. Earl Warren had not been a judge. Good link.

And I have no problem with Earl Warren at all, at least until he got into the President-killing investigation business.

-snip--

Warren attended the University of California at Berkeley and its law school. After serving a brief stint in the army during World War I, he worked for the Alameda County district attorney's office for eighteen years. During that time he proved to be a tough prosecutor, but he was also sensitive to the rights of the accused and personally fought to secure a public defender for people who could not afford one. A 1931 survey concluded that Earl Warren was the best district attorney in the United States.

From 1938 to 1942, Earl Warren was attorney general of California and was then elected governor. Warren is remembered mostly for his role in demanding the evacuation of Japanese from the West Coast. Though the action seemed inconsistent with his future decisions, Warren maintained during his lifetime that it seemed like the right action at the time. In his memoirs, however, he acknowledged error.

Warren served three terms as governor of California and played a key role in Dwight Eisenhower's nomination for the presidency in 1952. Eisenhower rewarded Warren with the Chief Justice position in 1953. Warren took over a court that was deeply divided between those justices who advocated a more active role for the court and those who supported judicial restraint. He proved skillful at "massing the court" and securing consensus as is evidenced by the unanimous decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case, one of the first cases that he had to deal with as Chief Justice.

http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/warren.html



edited for link:

[Just Me]

14. You oughtta' know by now the BushCO Empire seeks absolute loyalists.

Absolute loyalty is the only qualification.

[FrankX]

15. I think this is probably a good choice for Chimp.

[LuckyTheDog]

17. Many have not been

However, it is BIZARRE that Bush treats "not a judge" as if it were a qualification, and not a problem. Non-judges need to be (in my view) qualified enough in other ways to overcome the PROBLEM of not having judicial experience. They should be ground-breaking litigators and/or legal scholars of the highest order. Bush's nominee is neither.

[Fight_n_back]

18. Many instances of non judges

like Earl Warren for example.

Was Taft a judge?