Harriet Miers Supreme Court Nomination
Harriet Miers was born in Dallas Texas on August 10, 1945. She did a bachelor’s degree from the Southern Methodist University (1967). She further went on to receive her Juris Doctorate degree in 1970.
Harriet Mier was nominated on October 3, 2005 for Associate Justice of the U.S Supreme Court by President Bush. She was to replace for the retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O` Connor. Miers, at the time, was White House Counsel. She had previously served under G W Bush both as the President and Governor of Texas.
Her nomination was met with immediate criticism. The criticism came from both parties but majority of it came from the Presidents own party. It was denounced as an `unforced error`, a `disaster` and a `slap in the face to the conservatives`. Hearing was scheduled for November 7 by the US Senates Judicial Committee. However, Miers withdrew her candidature from the post on October 27, 2005.
Though Miers had Courtroom experience as a corporate litigator in her private practice, she had never served as a judge before. She had clerked for the Chief Judge of US district Court for the Northern District of Texas. Her record of litigating in the Federal court was scant and undistinguished. Infact, she had never argued a case before the Supreme Court.
The principal complaints that drew criticism for Miers were that her credentials were not sufficient for the post she was nominated for. Her nomination was looked as a personal favor by the President for her loyalty to him rather than for her qualifications. Her nomination was often compared to the appointment of Michael Brown as the Director of FEMA. Brown was also alleged to have gotten the position as a favor from the President. He however resigned from the post due to the criticism of his poor handling during and after the incident of Hurricane Katrina.
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