Harriet Miers

Harriet Miers

Harriet Ellan Miers ( pronunciation : [ hɛɹɹiɛt ˈmɑɪəz ]; born August 10, 1945 in Dallas , Texas ) is an American lawyer . She served as the White House Legal Advisor to President George W. Bush from 2004 to early 2007 .

On October 3, 2005, President Bush nominated her to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor as Justice of the United States Supreme Court . On October 27, 2005, she withdrew her application due to strong opposition. In their place, President Bush nominated Samuel Alito on October 31, 2005 .

Professional background

Miers was born in Dallas. After a bachelor's degree in mathematics , she studied at the Southern Methodist University Law . From 1970 to 1972 she worked as a clerk for federal district judge Joe E. Estes . She then worked until 1999 as a lawyer in the Texas law firm Locke, Purnell, Raine & Harrell , of which she became president in 1996. In 1985 she became the first female president of the Dallas Bar Association, and in 1992 she became the first female president of the Texas Bar Association. She was also elected for a Republican term on the Dallas City Council.

During George W. Bush's tenure as governor of Texas, he made her chairman of the state lottery commission. After Bush's first election to the presidency, she followed him in 2000 to Washington, DC , where she initially worked as an assistant and staff secretary for Bush. She was named Deputy Chief of Staff by the President in 2003 and White House Counsel in 2004. She replaced Alberto R. Gonzales on this post, who was appointed Minister of Justice .

On October 3, 2005, President Bush nominated her to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor as Supreme Court judge . Miers asked Bush on October 27, 2005, against the background of sharp criticism from broad circles (many did not consider her conservative enough; others expressed the opinion that Miers was intellectually not up to the office, see below) to withdraw her nomination. In her justification, she gave the reason that the judicial committee's request for documents from her time in the White House would endanger the separation of powers and the position of the president. On January 4, 2007, Miers announced that she would step down as legal advisor to the President effective January 31.

Positions

Since Harriet Miers worked primarily as a lawyer and government employee, her legal position and political attitudes are practically undocumented. This applies above all to socio-political issues such as the regulation of abortion , the separation of religion and state and questions of civil rights . For such questions, the Supreme Court has become the decisive national authority over the past decades. Miers would also have replaced Sandra Day O'Connor, who often cast the decisive vote ( swing vote ) on socio-political issues . For this reason, the few references to Miers' political stance in the USA were discussed intensively. It should be noted that the personal convictions of Supreme Court judges should theoretically have no influence on the assessment of the legal question that they are alone with, whether or not a contested decision is unconstitutional.

Miers is (like President Bush and many Texans) a devout, evangelical Christian and belongs to a conservative church. It teaches that abortion is murder, that the Bible is directly God's word, and that homosexuality is sin. In an election questionnaire from 1989, Miers spoke out in favor of “full civil rights” for homosexuals , but against the abolition of the criminal liability of same-sex sex. The Supreme Court, including Judge O'Connor, overturned this Texas penal provision in 2003 in the Lawrence v. Texas as unconstitutional.

There is little evidence of Miers' position on abortion. She donated $ 150 to a group of anti-abortionists in 1989 and argued that the ABA , the national bar association, should not take a stand on the issue of abortion. Abortion is a thing of the past thanks to a still politically highly controversial Supreme Court decision from 1973 by Roe v. Wade , legally. Judge O'Connor had always supported this decision as a result.

Reactions

Since Miers was largely unknown to the public before her nomination, the reactions were initially cautious. In the course of October 2005, however, increasingly violent opposition from all political camps met her:

• Lawyers and observers from all political camps criticized the fact that Miers - in contrast to the Bush-nominated Chief Justice John Roberts - did not have sufficient professional qualifications for the office. Bush had favoritism ( cronyism operated), in that he had nominated a close confidante, whose only remarkable characteristic is loyalty to him.

• Conservative Republicans were also bitterly disappointed that Bush - contrary to his election promises - had not nominated a right-wing conservative opinion leader and originalist in the style of Supreme Court judges Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas with well-known socio-political positions. Miers is also too old at 60 to work in court for long.

• Democratic senators were reluctant to announce a close examination of Miers' positions and qualifications. In the liberal camp there was widespread suspicion that Miers could be too conservative - for example because of her evangelical religious orientation.

Details and personal

Miers is single and has no children. She has no experience as a judge. Up until the 1980s, she made campaign donations to both Republicans and Democrats . In 1988 she donated $ 1,000 to Al Gore , who later became the Democratic candidate for the presidency and competed with President Bush.

Those in the know about the Bush administration consider her extraordinarily loyal to the president. Conservative journalist David Frum , a former Bush speechwriter, wrote that she once called Bush "the most brilliant person she has ever met". Her great admiration for her boss is also reflected in birthday greetings such as "You are the best governor ever, and great respect value!" George W. Bush, who is known for sloppy sayings about its employees, it has also been called " Pitbull with Shoe size 6 “.

Had she been ratified by the Senate, she would have been the first member of the Supreme Court since William H. Rehnquist's 1972 nomination who had not previously served as a federal judge. After her predecessor Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she would have been the third woman in the highest judicial office in the USA.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Harriet Miers' statement to Bush (English; PDF; 58 kB)
2. ^ Miers resigns as White House counsel. NBC News , April 1, 2008, accessed December 24, 2014 .  
3. ↑ Washington Post: Strong Grounding in the Church Could Be a Clue to Miers's Priorities (October 5, 2005)
4. ↑ www.time.com (PDF; 189 kB)
5. ↑ Seattle Times: Miers' views on 2 of nation's hot-button issues (October 4, 2005)
6. ↑ Newsmeat: Harriet Miers' Federal Campaign Contribution Report ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Washington Post: White House Counsel Miers Chosen for Court (October 4, 2005)

Web links

Commons : Harriet Miers  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Portrait of Harriet Miers on law.com from 2004 (in English)
• Harriet Miers's Blog !!! - Satirical blog, allegedly by Miers himself ...