Douglas Kmiec
Douglas Kmiec
Douglas W. Kmiec is an American legal scholar, author, and former U.S. ambassador. He is the Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law. Kmiec came to prominence during the United States presidential election, 2008 when, although a Republican, he endorsed Democrat Barack Obama. In July 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Malta. He was confirmed by the Senate and served for close to two years as...
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So judges are responsible for abiding by the morality in their own lives, but they are not responsible for imposing that morality in judicial decision-making.
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I think what happens in this process is there is an initial search and so much work is required to satisfy the competing constituencies that once a list is assembled, few people want to give it up. Some of the names on the list are almost venerable by virtue of age and longevity. There is a certain comfort in going with what you know, but it may not be the best.
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I think it's unfortunate that we're still at a point in our nation where we have to ask these questions.
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It is a Reagan personnel officer's dream come true. It is a graduation. These individuals have been in study and preparation for these roles all their professional lives.
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William H. Rehnquist is by nature quiet and humble. His legacy is that he has shown us how to disagree with civility.
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Suddenly, a blockage that had existed for at least 50 years was removed. What the Reagan administration was able to do was recover the original understanding of the religion clauses. Neutrality toward religion does not mean secularity. It means evenhandedness.
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The answer is no. The judge has no moral responsibility for the laws that his community enacts.
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We should look for a court with a lowered profile, a court that tries to resolve cases but one that does not discover new constitutional rights.
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I don't think among the favored categories of gender and ethnicity, beyond Al Gonzales, the president has an obvious choice.
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I expect intense pressure on the president from the loyal opposition to nominate as moderate a voice as he can find for the O'Connor replacement.
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He is inclined to the view of the First Amendment that the government is not intended to be hostile to religion. It is intended to be accommodating when it can.
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He is genial, warm, welcoming, not quick to take umbrage or disagree. He will be very effective by wit, intelligence and the ability to build coalitions for particular points of view.
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Here is somebody at still a young age who had a very strong institutional appreciation for the role of the Supreme Court in the federal system and worried far more maturely than some of his senior counterparts of the effect on our constitutional system.
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He's actually demonstrated that he's grown comfortable with the public interaction in a way that wasn't entirely true when he had his own confirmation hearings, where he appeared tentative.