Huckabee on Judges
By AndrewHyman Posted in GOP Presidential Candidates — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
From an interview on August 3, 2007:
Brian: Is there anything you can share about your experience of appointing judges while Governor?
Governor Huckabee: You know, I looked for people who embodied those very things I just mentioned. A commitment to a strict constructionist view of their job, viewed the Constitution as something that they were simply to apply, not to reinterpret and rewrite. But I also looked for people who embodied the kind of temperament that we needed on the bench, who would, uh, divorce themselves and distance themselves from their own personal passions in the sense of letting their emotions drive them, but [instead] letting the Constitution drive them. And, uh, the kind of people I appointed certainly ended up, uh, for example, one I can think of, that I put on the State Supreme Court…President Bush appointed him to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. An outstanding young jurist named Lavenski Smith that I’ve known since I was in grade school. And he’s a person that embodies the kind of person we need on the bench, he, uh, has a deep respect for God, for this country and its Constitution, and, uh, almost approaches his job with a sense of fear and trembling, to make sure that he does it in such a way that he has a clear conscience.
I don't know much about Judge Smith. Here's his DOJ biography.
jnb2014
by Matthew Friendly
Yes, Colloton is a star, on the 8th or any other Circuit.
Colloton
by Matthew Friendly
Read his opinions, and you find an extremely bright, young originalist. He's only 44 years old and has already been on the 8th Circuit for 4 years.
more on Rogan
by AC1
Even more on Rogan
by BoBo
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rogan4dec04,1,39785...
"Shortly after Bush took office in 2001, Parsky's commission was set up to select federal trial judges for California who could win the backing of the Republican White House and the state's two Democratic senators. The six-member panels serving different regions of the state include three Republicans and three Democrats.
There has been little controversy over the federal trial judges, and more than two dozen of Bush's California nominees won quick Senate approval.
Jason Roe, a former top aide to Rogan, accused Boxer of reneging on a deal that led to Parsky's commission. "If she can 'blue slip' a nominee, what's the point of having the commission in the first place?" he asked.
In recent years, Rogan and Clinton have exchanged friendly notes. "If Bill Clinton and Jim Rogan can move past impeachment, why can't Sen. Boxer?" Roe asked.
Boxer's aide said the senator never promised to support all of Bush's nominees simply because they were recommended by the bipartisan California panel."
A recent trend I absolutely
by BillM
A recent trend I absolutely hate in journalism is including every "uh" & "um" in transcripts, quotes, etc, as above. I understand why they do it(CYA), but it still bugs me, and if anything it's less edifying to the reader.
Ditto for how they no longer "tidy up" the grammar of professional athletes. Of course, in the case of East Europeans, the raw version IS much more entertaining.
As for Rogan, wouldn't it be hilarious if a Fed Soc. plant lured ol' Willie into saying something on camera like, "Jim Rogan is a good man who was just doing his job. It was just politics, and he & I are now friends who have long moved past all that"?
Huckabee and Lawrence v. Texas
by stealthlawprof
Anyone interested in Huckabee's views on judicial issues might want to read Mahler's recent post at Redstate. Specifically, he cites a statement by Huckabee in 2003 that Lawrence was probably correctly decided.
Stealthlawprof
by AndrewHyman
It could be that this is yet another messed-up Associated Press article. Here's the pertinent excerpt:
A Southern Baptist preacher, Huckabee has been a favorite among social conservatives for his vocal opposition to gay marriage. In 2003, Huckabee said that the U.S. Supreme Court was probably right to strike down anti-sodomy laws, but that states still should be able to restrict things such as gay marriage or domestic partner benefits.
"What people do in the privacy of their own lives as adults is their business," Huckabee said. "If they bring it into the public square and ask me as a taxpayer to support it or to endorse it, then it becomes a matter of public discussion and discourse."
A person can easily have the viewpoint expressed in the second paragraph quoted above, and still oppose Lawrence. That was similar to the position Justice Thomas took in his Lawrence dissent. In other words, one may oppose the anti-sodomy law in Texas, while still believing that the Constitution does not give SCOTUS or the United Nations or Associated Press the power to strike down that law.
not so ---
by stealthlawprof
Read the thread started by Mahler at Redstate for more detail, but the problem is the penultimate paragraph. Thomas dissented. Huckabee agrees with the result. Those are not easily reconciled positions.
Judge Smith is a wonderful man, and as hard working as any judge on the 8th Circuit. However, if this is the type of judge Huckabee would elevate to SCOTUS, I am not impressed. His record on the 8th is that of a moderate to moderate liberal. Moreover, his work product, while adequate, is certainly not stellar. The two judges on the 8th who desrve more attention are Steve Colloton and Ray Gruender. The former is more qualified and probably more easily confirmed than the latter (and probably the best young judge on the Circuit), but both are better jurists than Smith. In terms of intellectually heft, Smith would be right in the middle of the pack on the 8th.