Cronyism hits the High Court

President Bush will name personal friend Harriet Miers to Replace Justice Sandra Day O'Conner. Miers is one of Bushs' lawyers and a long time family confidant but she has never been a judge.

From the Associated Press:

President Bush has chosen Harriet Miers,
White House counsel and a loyal member of the president's inner circle, to
replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, a senior
administration official said Monday. If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Miers, 60, would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the nation's highest court. Miers, who has never been a judge, was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association. The Southern Methodist University law graduate also formerly served on the Dallas City Council. without a judicial record, it's difficult to know whether Miers would dramatically move the court to the right. She would fill the shoes of O'Connor, a swing voter on the court for years who has cast deciding votes on some affirmative action, abortion and death penalty cases.