Obama's interesting choice for the 9th Circuit

[cali]

Obama zeros in on law professor for 9th Circuit post

Reporting from Washington - President Obama will nominate UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday, The Times has learned.

Liu carries credentials that some conservatives love to hate -- including a leadership position in a progressive legal group and a record of opposing the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

But he has conservative admirers too. Liu has supported school choice as a solution to problems in urban education, and has served as faculty advisor to the California College Preparatory Academy, a public charter school. He came to the White House's attention with the recommendation of some conservatives.

If confirmed, he could be the only full-time Asian American judge on a federal appellate court. A senior administration official revealed his nomination on condition of anonymity.

In the political world, Liu is sure to be remembered as an Alito critic. When Alito was nominated to the high court, Liu co-wrote a report critical of his record on capital punishment, saying Alito's appellate opinions "show a disturbing tendency to tolerate serious errors in capital proceedings" and "reveal troubling perspectives on federalism, race and due process of law." Liu testified against Alito during his 2006 confirmation hearings.

Liu, 39, also is chairman of the board of the American Constitution Society, whose mission statement opposes the "activist conservative legal movement."

"Keeping Faith With the Constitution," a 2009 book that he co-wrote, discusses the shortcomings of "originalism," a conservative legal theory maintaining that the Constitution should be interpreted based on its 18th century framers' intent. Progressive judges tend to see the Constitution as a living document, shifting with the times, and to validate rights that they see as logical extensions of it.


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http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-obama-judges24-2010feb24,0,3858660.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

[joeybee12]

1. Well, if he's against "originalism" which the dim-witted are for, he's fine by me. n/t

[Winterblues]

2. Isn't Yoo also a Law Professor at Berkeley?

Just being a professor at Berkeley does not indicate one's politics..

[Robbien]

3. The main issue in judicial appointments should be

whether a judge is pro-corporate or not.

With corporations having more rights than citizens these days we need an advocate for citizen's rights. Or at least a judge who will protect the few rights we have left.