Larry: Wow, I think you may have the facts wrong again. I think Souter was not "the darling of conservatives." Indeed, many conservatives were deeply distrustful of Souter, but were assured by winks and nods from the Bush camp that he would be ok.
Of course he is not ok. He would have made a great Clinton nominee, perhaps, but he is the worst nightmare of conservatives who were right to be worried. Rick Duncan PS: Mike Paulsen has written a law review article on the Souter nomimation in which he mentions that conservatives were concerned that Souter might be "squishy" or might "grow in the job." He also blames himself for not disclosing confidential information that might have stopped the nomination. Mike puts it as only Mike can: "I am responsible--indirectly, remotely, only contributorily, and perhaps excusably, but nonetheless partially responsible--for the deaths of one and a half million innocent unborn children per year. I might have been able to stop the nomination of David Souter to the United States Supreme Court...if only I had been willing to violate my duty of confidentiality as a government lawyer and leak to pro-life groups my advance knowledge of Souter's likely nomination to the Supreme Court by President Bush in 1990." Paulsen, Hell, Handbaskets, and Government Lawyers, 61 Law & Contem. Prob.83 (1998). Cheers, Rick "never just a guy named Sununu" Duncan --- Larry Sager <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: --------------------------------- This is why I try so hard to avoid facts. On the otherhand, I did say, and meant, that Souter was "in a sense" Bork'sreplacement. He was the darling of conservatives who felt that Borkhad been unfairly treated. --Larry Sager At 11:46 AM 6/2/2003 -0400, you wrote: Ihave no reason to think that Souter was being insincere at his hearing,but I'm also sure he has and had great manners. Also, regarding thetimeline, it was Anthony Kennedy, not Souter, who in 1987"replaced" the withdrawn Judge D. Ginsburg, who replaced therejected Judge Bork, as the nominee to succeed Justice Powell; Souter forBrennan came three years later. John Q.Barrett -----Original Message----- From: Discussion list for con law professors[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Larry Sager Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 11:36 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Souter and Harlan I think you are all correct, both in that Harlan was invoked as oneof Souter's most admired role models, and that Souter has since lookedexplicitly and implicitly to Harlan's legacy for direction. But Souter's tribute to Brennan, in the context of his appointmentnot only to succeed Brennan, but in a sense to replace Bork, wasextraordinary, and even in 1990 could not be taken to be merely goodmanners. --Larry Sager At 08:30 AM 6/2/2003 -0400, you wrote: My recollection (I was on the Judiciary Committee staff at the time)is that Souter praised Justice Brennan (whom he was succeeding), as Larryindicates, and that he said the Justice he most admired and whoseapproach is own most resembled was Justice Harlan, as David recalls. Onequote I have in some old notes is "As I have explained, basically myapproach to it [talking here about the liberty clause] is the approach ofMr. Justice Harlan." I recall a great deal of discussion ofHarlan's opinions throughout the hearings, on the surmise thatunderstanding how Harlan approached a problem would help one anticipatehow Justice Souter might approach it. >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 06/02/03 12:29AM >>> This is what Justice Souter said about Jusice Brennan in thecourse of his confirmation hearings: Justice Brennan is going to be remembered as one of the mostfearlessly principled guardians of the American Constitution that it hasever had and ever will have. No one following Justice Brennan, absolutelyno one, could possibly say a word to put himself in the league withJustice Brennan. All you can do is say what perhaps once Justice Brennansaid, "I will do the best I can." I wrote about this in a postscript to a a review of Robert Bork."Back to Bork", NYRB October 25, 1990. The postscript containssome other statements of Souter as well, statements that were prettyclear harbingers of who Souter was. --Larry Sager At 03:40 PM 6/1/2003 -0400, you wrote: I seem to recall that during his confirmation hearings Justice Soutersaid he most admired the second Justice Harlan. Can anyone confirm that?Has Souter ever expressed his admiration for Harlan since thaen? Professor David E. Bernstein George Mason University School of Law http://mason.gmu.edu/~dbernste blog:http://bernstein.blogspot.com *********************************************** My latest book, You Can't Say That! The Growing Threat to Civil Liberties from Antidiscrimination Laws, will be published in October *********************************************** ===== Rick Duncan Welpton Professor of Law University of Nebraska College of Law Lincoln, NE 68583-0902 "The thirst for freedom is unquenchable" --RFD (inspired by President Bush) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com
