(U-WIRE) MADISON, Wis.-President George W. Bush announced his nomination of Harriet Miers for Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Monday.
Miers was nominated to fill the seat vacated by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who resigned July 1 citing personal reasons for leaving the nation’s highest court.
Mangi said Miers has been a “female trailblazer” in the legal system. Miers was the first woman hired at Dallas’s Locke, Purnell, Rain & Harrell law firm, she was the first woman to be elected president of the State Bar of Texas and has represented major corporations such as Microsoft, Walt Disney Co. and SunGard Data Systems Inc.
Most recently, Miers served as counsel to the president since Bush appointed her in February of this year.
Those who oppose Miers’ nomination question her legal experience with the court system and say too little is known about her career and opinions on key issues.
Though many liberals take issue with the nomination, Franklin said the initial reaction from Republicans has also been contentious.
Democrats also emphasized the fact that Miers has never been a judge.
University of Wisconsin Professor of Political Science Charles Franklin said it is not unusual for a nominee to not have experience behind the judicial bench, citing the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist as the most recent example.