Bush Appoints Another Catholic to the Court

Ok, so maybe the religion of the nominee doesn't matter . . . but by my count that makes 5 . . . Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, and now . . . Alito.

Talk about a judicial monastery!

What's interesting to me is what this says about a Catholic perspective of Jurisprudence and the virtue of work.  All of the catholics currently on the court, Kennedy included, take the questions of law seriously.  They have a developed, articulate, and nuanced judicial philosophy which, even when there is disagreement, there is honest and intelligent debate about those points.  Kennedy, who is considered the more "liberal" of the bunch is by no means a radical.

But judicial philosophy alone does not a supreme court justice make.  The other factor is their long and thoughtful careers.  These men have taken their work seriously and pursued it as a great good while at the same time being responsible fathers, friends, and citizens.

The fact that President Bush and the conservative movement find judges like Alito so appealing is rooted in that they are not ideological.  Yes, this is what the left will accuse them of, but it's an empty accusation.  Alito has ideas, he adheres to a philosophy that informs his decision making, and he adheres to a religion that emphasizes human freedom as the greatest good.  However, as the news reports are indicating (and the conservative bloggers and commentators are emphasizing) he is a man who has made judicial decisions quite contrary to his own ideas because they were legitimate legal conclusions.

It will be interesting to see how this nomination plays out, but I for one think that the most interesting thing about this nomination process is a question that starts to arise . . . why don't evangelicals make good judges?  I mean, Sandra Day O'Connor and William Rhenquist both came from traditional protestant backgrounds.  Who were the names being touted by conservatives that came out of evangelical churches?  I wonder why the evangelical establishment has not yet cried "mark of the beast" or "whore of babylon" about these judges  . . . God knows the radio crazies have.

Comments

[JACK]

Stephen:

There are very good evangelical judges. One of the other names that was touted as a potential nominee, Michael McConnell, is an evangelical. I had the good fortune of having him as a professor during law school and having spent some time with him on a personal level at some law school Christian fellowship events. A brilliant man and very humble. I would have loved to have seen him nominated, but my guess is that he may have declined or the President went with Alito because he has spent so much more time on the federal bench.

[Stephen]

Jack,

Thanks. My question was mostly facetious . . . but there is something to it, as the day has gone on I've had the chance to be a part of some conversations in this regard. Certainly there are good evangelical judges, many mentioned McConnell and Janice Rodgers Brown as Christians who are from evangelical churches. I look forward to see what the gang over at Mirror of Justice will have to say about this over the next few days.

[numquamsatis]

Stephen,
There is always something fascinating about a Catholic judge. Just look at St Thomas More.
I'm not articulate enough to describe the jurisprudential aspect of Catholicism but one thing is self-evident. No other Christian denomination has devoted so much thought on the law: Catholic Church alone has the code of Canon laws and Canon law lawyers.

And on a lighter note: how many of the five Catholic judges were trained by the Jesuits? ;-)

[Stephen]

lol . . . the jesuitical influence on the Supremes, by my count: Scalia (Jesuit High School and Georgetown Univ), Clarence Thomas (College of the Holy Cross . . . Robert's attended high school at Lumiere Academy which was probably run by the Holy Cross Brothers at time, Kennedy was a product of public education . . . and I can't find anything on Alito's high school.