Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 15, 1993 TAG: 9308260238
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's early in the process, but it looks at first blush, at least, as though consensus-seeking President Bill Clinton has found a consensus appointee, and one whose qualifications don't suffer for that.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C., is Clinton's choice to replace retiring Justice Byron White. Leaving aside the bizarre manner in which the White House arrived at the decision, she is a superb choice. Amazingly, she also appears to be a palatable choice across the political spectrum, from liberal to conservative.
Her liberal credentials speak for themselves. First woman law professor at Columbia University. General counsel for seven years at the Woman's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. Argued six landmark cases before the Supreme Court that resulted in greater constitutional protection against sexual discrimination. New Republic magazine writer Jeffrey Rosen says she ``can plausibly be described as the Thurgood Marshall of the women's rights movement.''
Yet Ginsburg, a passionate advocate as a lawyer, has proven to be a moderate jurist able to find a middle ground between more liberal and conservative colleagues on the federal bench. As an appellate judge, she voted to dismiss the complaint of a sailor who was discharged from the service because of homosexual activity. (There is no apparent conflict here with Clinton's plan to lift the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. He has said he does not favor changing the Military Code of Conduct, which forbids homosexual activity.)
More significantly, though an ardent supporter of abortion rights, she is rightly critical of the particular way in which the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. Ginsburg argues that the ruling interfered with a legislative process that was heading toward reform and might have settled the issue with less divisiveness.
It will be nice to have a second woman on the Supreme Court, reducing the sense of tokenism that has prevailed with one woman and one black as members.
Even more important, the high regard in which Ginsburg is held by liberals and conservatives alike heightens the possibility that she will prove a consensus builder - a valuable asset for a moderate jurist whose core principles are liberal, yet who has been nominated to sit on a court listing decidedly to the right.
Her greatest contribution will be if she can persuade others to vote with her, an expectation Clinton mentioned in his formal announcement and which she acknowledged in accepting the nomination.
In a touching speech in which she paid tribute to her late mother and credited ``the revived women's movement'' of the '70s in part for the opportunity she has been given, Ginsburg also thanked her colleagues on the D.C. Court of Appeals for teaching her the ``value of collegiality.''
Monday's announcement was a much-needed boost for the Clinton administration after a string of missteps in filling critical jobs. Even obstructionist Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole seemed happy, saying Ginsburg ``looks like a good choice.'' The only smudge on the day was Clinton's pique when asked to explain the apparent zigzagging among candidates that preceded his choice of Ginsburg.
It is understandable that he would have preferred to focus attention Monday on the fine person he chose. But, given his administration's record for floating names of possible appointees as trial balloons to see if they draw enough negative fire to bring them down, the president should not be insulted by the question. It has been apparent that the White House needs a better screening process for high appointments.
In Ginsburg, though, Cinton has come up with an excellent nominee.
by CNB