Saturday, October 08, 2005

Responding to Dobson

Dr. James Dobson is a distinguished conservative leader. He praises public officials when they do the right thing, and lets them hear from him when they veer off course. He has dedicated his life to conservative, Godly causes, and he does his homework.

Dobson spent last weekend speaking at length with people who know Ms. Miers. He spoke with her pastor, people in her Church, Karl Rove, other people at the White House, etc. It is quite understandable that he could have gained confidential information in those discussions. He could well have gained information about her policy views, her religious views, her personality, her strength, her ideology, and her reasoning. Based on what he has said publicly, it seems as though these were the areas covered in his discussions. Having researched as much as he could, Dobson reached the conclusion that Ms. Miers would make a good Supreme Court Justice. Fair enough.

Due to his history, Dobson has earned the right to have conservatives give heavy weight to his opinion. It is heartfelt and honest. He has even said that, if he is wrong, the blood of those who will lose their lives as a result will be in part on his hands. He is humble and cautious, but he thinks Ms. Miers would serve well.

Unfortunately, though, nothing that Dr. Dobson has said publicly says anything at all about her judicial philosophy. He has said nothing about her being an originalist or a textualist. He has said nothing about her views on stare decisis or the role of the Court. He has said nothing about her ability to engage in intellectual discussion with her Court colleagues. He has done nothing to refute claims that Ms. Miers is indecisive and highly subject to be swayed by pressure. He has done nothing to link her personal, and perhaps political, beliefs on abortion and whether she would overturn Roe, Griswold, and other unconstitutional decisions.

Any time a conservative finds out that he disagrees with Dobson, it is time for him to rethink his position. I have done so. I have looked a Dobson's statements, listened to him on the radio, thought carefully about his arguments, and have found nothing at all that gives me any comfort whatsoever. Dobson may well be right about Ms. Miers if she were running for political office, but the nature of the Court is very different. She is strictly bound by the laws enacted by others, and we have no way to determine how she would approach her job with that in mind. If a Supreme Court decision is unconstitutional, which governs new rulings? Does she believe in substantive due process? How expansive is her reading of the commerce clause? On these counts, Dobson offers nothing.

With all due respect to Dr. Dobson, his statements leave far too many questions to be convincing. I do not doubt that he believes that he is doing the right thing, and I cannot fault him for it. Even so, respecting Dobson does not require agreeing with him.

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