Over at Hot Air they are discussing rumors of Justice Stevens being in ill health and who would be appointed to replace him on the court.
Here are some qualities I would like to see in the next Supreme Court Justice:
- No record or history of supporting or citing foreign case law in US courts
- A constitutional originalist (for the most part)
- An unusually (for judges/justices) strong background in the sciences and technology
Society is being changed at an increasing rate by sciences and technologies. It would be nice to have a justice with some expertise in that area.
How about somebody who has served as a current or past:
- NSF counsel (or NIST, NASA,the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a major public or private research lab, or something like that)
- House or Senate science committee counsel at some point
- Law Prof who has served as chancellor/dean/provost/president at a major public or private research university
How about a scientist with a law degree?
At least somebody with an undergrad or grad degree in sciences or engineering would be nice!
Filed under: Public Policy, Science
Your third criterion generally rules out the previous two, doesn’t it? We got Breyer already — former agency counsel, former Senate committee counsel, experience in science issues, Law Prof — but people who fit that mold tend to understand that there is no reason to void most of U.S. law for some bizarre disaffectation with “foreign” law.
I am thinking someone very science-y…I guess I should have put that first.