The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor to serve as Honorary Chairwoman
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Gov. Joe Manchin today announced his appointments to the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform, including the Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice, to serve as the Honorary Chairwoman.
"We are truly honored that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has accepted my invitation to serve as the Honorary Chairwoman of this important commission," Gov. Joe Manchin said. "She brings special expertise and a wealth of knowledge to this panel."
The nine-member commission will be chaired by Carte Goodwin, former general counsel for Gov. Joe Manchin and currently an attorney at Goodwin & Goodwin. Other members include: Joyce McConnell, Dean of West Virginia College of Law; Sandra Chapman, President West Virginia State Bar; Thomas Heywood, Esq.; Marvin Masters, Esq. ; Mary McQueen, President National Center for State Courts; Andy MacQueen, Esq.; John McCuskey, Esq.; and, Caprice Roberts, Associate Dean West Virginia University College of Law.
"This Independent Commission on Judicial Reform is charged with evaluating West Virginia's judicial system and its current practices," the governor added. "All of the appointees are extremely qualified to serve on this commission, and I look forward to reviewing their findings and presenting them to the Legislature."
The Commission will study the need for judicial reforms, such as, but not limited to: adopting a merit-based system of judicial selection, enacting judicial campaign finance reforms or reporting requirements, creating an intermediate court of appeals, proposing constitutional amendments or establishing a court of chancery.
The commission's findings will be presented to the governor by Nov. 15, 2009.
I don't know if I trust O'Connor. Hopefully her role is just "honorary" because I don't want the woman who said this:
I can understand why Gov. Joe Manchin would want a Republican of some stature on the commission in some role, but Bush v. Gore is one of the worst decisions in the history of the United States and O'Connor showed little respect for the voters or for the legal process in that decision. Hopefully she has since learned from her mistake:
Toobin: See this is what I really learned in writing my book. This is what surprised me is the effect that this decision had on O'Connor.
Because the reaction to Bush v Gore was so extreme and so angry that it really challenged O'Connor's conception of herself as someone who was fair and non-partisan and someone who was a supreme court justice universally respected and she was really taken aback by that. You combine that reaction with what Bush's presidency turned out to be, something very different than what O'Connor thought it would be, a very conservative Presidency -- she did not like John Ashcroft who was President Bush's first attorney general. Justice O'Connor was not an evangelical Christian Right Republican, she's an old school Country Club Republican.
As the new President Bush became more and more conservative especially when it came to civil liberties after 9/11, O'Connor rebelled. In part because she was worried about her historical reputation in light of BvG and in part because she simply did not like the direction the Bush administration was going.
I have little faith in Republicans learning from their mistakes. It does happen, and sometimes quite spectacularly. I hope Manchin made the correct call on this, but I have sincere doubts.
