DOCUMENT: Celebrity

Miers Pays Her Dues

Supreme Court nominee had D.C. law license suspended this year

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Miers Pays Her Dues

OCTOBER 18--Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers today provided a glimpse into her views on judicial activism and other topics with the submission of a 65-page questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee. While most of the document covers her legal background, there are a few interesting tidbits, including Miers's revelation that her license to practice law in the District of Columbia had been suspended earlier this year after she failed to pay dues. "I immediately sent the dues in to remedy the delinquency. The non-payment was not intentioned, and I corrected the situation upon receiving the letter," she reported. Miers also noted that when Sandra Day O'Connor announced in July her intention to retire, "I was asked whether my name should be considered. I indicated at that time that I did not want to be considered." That stance, of course, changed following the September death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. After initially participating in reviews of "potential nominees to fill a second vacancy," Miers discovered "that individuals at the White House began considering me as a potential nominee without advising me." On the subject of judicial activism, Miers stated that "courts are the arbiters of disputes, not policy makers." (7 pages)