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The Nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court

Statement of Linda Basch, PhD, President,
National Council for Research on Women (NCRW)
October 3, 2005

The nomination of Harriet Miers to fill the pivotal vacancy of retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor raises the concerns of members of the National Council for Research on Women. Miers is not a judge. Her judicial philosophy is unknown. What the public does know is that prior to serving as President Bush’s assistant, as White House staff secretary, and as White House Counsel, she was the President's personal attorney. With this longstanding relationship, we know that she is loyal to President Bush. That is not enough. What the public needs to know and what senators need to ask is will she be loyal to the fundamental values of this country. Will she respect the rights of all people, including women?  

While we are pleased that President Bush selected a woman, we agree with Justice Ginsburg, who recently said in a speech, “any woman will not do” for the job of Supreme Court Justice, noting that there are “some women who might be appointed who would not advance human rights or women's rights.”  This is our position. Toward that end, it is critical that we learn more about Miers.

Because there is scant public information about Miers’ views on constitutional and legal issues, the country is left in the dark on her principles and commitment to civil rights and women’s rights, and an array of critical issues essential to the well-being of our democracy and nation.  The public has a right to know, and we call on the Senate to initiate a full and thorough vetting of Miers’ views. We also call on President Bush to make public all of Miers’ memos and other legal writings and to urge Miers to cooperate with the Senate so that the American public knows as much about this nominee as he does.

Just last week, we gambled with women’s rights. By confirming John Roberts, Senators have potentially thwarted decades of advancement. Roberts evaded the questions – yet the public wanted to hear his views. In fact, a July 2005 Gallop poll found that 61% of the public agreed that Supreme Court nominees should have to explain his or her views when asked by the Senate.

The only clue that we have to Miers’ views is her action while at the Texas Bar Association. According to Council member Planned Parenthood and news reports, Miers was an active participant in the campaign to reverse the American Bar Association's pro-choice position on the right to choose.  We have a right to understand how she stands on this contentious issue, which will soon be before the Supreme Court , and why she chose to take such a proactive role.

While we cannot pre-judge Miers’ nomination, her lack of experience as a judge, her action at the Texas Bar Association, her lack of a public record on civil and women’s rights raise serious concerns among those committed to democracy. The Council has a network of more than one hundred university and policy centers nationwide. The scholars and lawyers in our network are starting intensive research on this nominee’s legal record. Their analyses will be posted on www.ncrw.org as they become available.

The media, advocacy groups, policymakers, and most importantly, the Senate, must fully vet this nomination. In this spirit, we also want to commend the Democratic women senators who developed a website to collect questions from the public and personally deliver them to the Judiciary Committee during Roberts’ hearings. We anticipate and hope that they will reactivate this site. As the hearings get underway, we will continue to work with NCRW members and with Congress to ensure a full vetting of Miers for this pivotal position on the Supreme Court.

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The National Council for Research on Women is a network of 103 leading US women’s research and policy centers, with a growing international reach. The Council uses the power and knowledge of a women’s research network to inform debate, policies, and practices, and build a more inclusive and equitable world for women and girls .

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