“Professor, when you were appointed to that State Department position, did you have to go through the type of hearing that Supreme Court candidates are now exposed to?”
‘Thank God, no. My final confirmation was a meeting with three members of the Senate committee. It lasted one hour, half of which was taken up by the amusing anecdotes dispensed by one of the members.”
“You got off easy, judging by the current Supreme Court Confirmation hearings.”
The Professor shook his head vigorously and then let go:
“What we are seeing is a farce. The entire process of exposing a potential Supreme Court Judge to this ridiculous and senseless interrogation is in many ways the result of the media frenzy in which we live. Nowhere in the Constitution or the archives of either legislative body, is this circus included as an important step in the selection process.”
“I have to agree with you, Professor. Present practices seem to take place in a peculiar atmosphere where anyone within a TV camera angle seeks to show its best profile and listen to his voice if a microphone is pressed on his face. But tell me more.”
“Supreme Court
confirmation hearings have an interesting story. You see, until the
20th century, confirmation hearings were held behind closed doors; so that the
nomination process was not allowed to become a public event. The usual
procedure up to that time started with the President who would select one or
more candidates and discuss their qualifications with his immediate circle and
then announce his choice.”
Still shaking his head, he continued;
“Nowadays, the
President and the members of his staff, like the Vice President, Chief of
Staff, National Security Adviser and others, become part of the selection
process. The Justice
Department is also involved in the decision along with the Senate
Judiciary Committee, preparing lists of candidates that are carefully
scrutinized, investigated and whose judicial trajectories are carefully
analyzed.”
I said:
‘Fine. If they do their job well, once a candidate is
selected, there is no need for a public hearing of the kind that is now on the
menu. The degree of competency, personal, integrity and wisdom of the candidate
should have been established by then. Why can’t they hold a hearing with the
candidate proposed by the President where only two or three members of the
committee go through the final ritual?”
Another shake of the head and then the Professor
answered:
“Also, since 1930
the confirmation hearings have been open to the public. Again, a circus
atmosphere is created as many members of the Committee who do not seem to have
a solid grasp of the legal substance of the hearings, seek only those minutes
on camera that will earn them more affection from their lobbyists back home. Remember
that the hearings have been televised since 1981 and in all this time, a
certain technique has been adopted in the inquiring process which often becomes
an incriminating third degree sequence of no real value.”
The Professor looked at me and smiled. Then he added:
“Do not forget the political angle. The political color of the outgoing justice has to be taken into account. If a retiring justice is a political liberal, Senate liberals tend to oppose a conservative candidate in order not to lose a seat on the Court that agrees with their ideology. In cases like that the president might nominate a moderate candidate. If, on the other hand, the outgoing justice is a conservative, the Senate liberals might vote for a conservative appointment in order to maintain a balanced Court.”
“Are there any positive results in this unique process?”
“Are you kidding? What are the TV networks, radio, cable and newspapers going to do without the gossip and drama of the Nomination hearings?”
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