Someone can be SC Justice without ever having been a judge

[MindPilot]

we've established that, but do they have to have been a lawyer? Exactly what are the required qualifications?

[unblock]

1. you do not have to be a lawyer

but it's tough getting confirmed without it.

i'm pretty sure it's happened at least once, probably in the early days of the country when not everyone went to law school....

[unblock]

3. according to this link, there's never been a non-lawyer even nominated

http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/410/supremecourt.htm

[CBGLuthier]

2. There are no qualifications

I am not even sure there is an age requirement but may be wrong about that.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

8. Sure there are.

You have to be a pal of junior's. And willing to display your loyalty when called upon.

[MindPilot]

9. So someone could be in the right place at the right time

know the right people and end up making literal life and death decisions, guiding the country's legal system, and affecting millions of lives without a single qualification to do so?

Yet that same person would have to study at an approved school and hold a state-issued license to cut hair. :eyes:

[CBGLuthier]

10. Well, yeah

But let's be honest. Other than some age requirements there are no qualifications for any of the three branches of government.

None.

[havocmom]

4. Getting tougher to get elected to a PTA chapter than to get on SCOTUS

Just have a record of kissing BUSHCO ass, or hauling it outta some fire, and you're in ;)

[noonwitch]

5. Clarence Thomas had very little judicial experience

Most of his legal experience came in running the EEOC under Reagan.

[AirAmFan]

6. Without an American Bar Association rating of "well qualified", nominees

to ANY federal court have had a rad time of it.

See http://www.abanet.org/scfedjud/%20supreme%20ct%20noms%20process1104.doc

[Czolgosz]

7. Many great justices had no prior judicial experience, BUT they nearly all

had outstanding academic achievement and recognition or they served in a high elected office or they were highly placed in the Attorney General's office. I cannot think of a prior nominee who had less relevant experience than Ms. Miers.

[onenote]

11. nearly all isn't all

And that's the problem with attacking her qualifications

Her achievements are not as stellar as some, but respectable enough. She appears to have had a fine academic record, earning an appointment as federal judge's clerk at a time when few women were given that position. She was at top litigator at a major firm, was elected to the City Council and has served in the WH counsel's office.

Compared to Lewis Powell: ABA President, private practice, Richmond School Board, or Arthur Goldberg: AFL-CIO lawyer/Secretary of Labor; Abe Fortas: private practice, LBJ lawyer...hard to draw that much of a distinction.

onenote

[Czolgosz]

12. When I was referring to academic achievements, I meant professorial tenure

at a respected law school (like Yale Law School professor Abe Fortas) more so than merely graduating from a middle tier Texas regional law school with good grades.

[onenote]

13. goldberg, powell, and being attorney general

Arthur Goldberg: no professorial tenure, attended Northwestern Law

Lewis Powell: no professorial tenure: attended Washington and Lee

And coming back to an earlier statement: I don't regard being named Attorney General (or Deputy Attorney General) as particular evidence of any exemplary qualfication to be on the SCOTUS. I don't think Ed Meese or John Mitchell were particularly scholarly or competent guys and would've screamed bloody murder if they had been nominated to the SCOTUS -- not because of their resume, but because of their position on the issues. And while I loved Bobby Kennedy with all my heart, he was appointed AG for one reason -- but I would've supported him for the SCT despite his resume.

onenote

[Czolgosz]

15. Actually, you're mistaken. Judge Goldberg was a law professor at John

Marshall Law School. We do agree about Powell, he was weak as dishwater as a nominee, but even his candidacy was stronger than Miers's.

By the way, I'm not necessarily opposed to Miers (I haven't finished looking into her record), but whether or not she is someone to oppose, she's on the ass end of the spectrum as far as her qualifications go.

[texpatriot2004]

14. kick n/t

[jmatthan]

16. Equate Arabian Horses to Homeland Security!

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