READY FROM DAY ONE:

The Replacements: Why not Justice Janice Rogers Brown? (BRENDAN MINITER, July 5, 2005, Opinion Journal)

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales dropped by The Wall Street Journal's offices recently. Asked if the Moussaoui case had soured the administration on taking such cases to civilian court, he told me that to the contrary it was important to learn what limits the courts would set for such cases--a clear indication that he expects to see more such cases fought out in civilian courts.

Mr. Gonzales, of course, is thought to be on the short list of candidates for the high court. If he gets the nod, it will likely be because the president is comfortable with his thinking on terrorism, among other things. He also would be hard for Democrats to demonize. He is not only mild tempered and liked by the president, but having recently won confirmation as attorney general, it would be hard to filibuster him with the claim that he's "extreme."

There's another candidate who would be even harder to demonize: Judge Janice Rogers Brown. She's a conservative with a long record on California's Supreme Court and had been one of several judges being filibustered by Senate Democrats. But after being confirmed last month, she now sits on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a court that has produced more than its share of Supreme Court justices. Thanks to the deal seven Democrats hammered out with seven Republicans she is, by definition, not "extreme" enough that her nomination would constitute "extraordinary circumstances" justifying a filibuster.

Anyway, filibustering Judge Brown would also block the first black woman from taking a seat on the high court. Never underestimate the power of "a first" in getting Supreme Court nominee through the Senate. Justice O'Connor, the first woman to sit on the high court, sailed through 99-0 in 1981. Five years later, President Reagan sent up Antonin Scalia to be the first Italian-American to sit on the highest court in the land. He is now the bane of the left, but in 1986, he won confirmation 98-0.

One important upside for Ms Brown and Alberto Gonzales is that they were just approved by the Senate so shouldn't require much security vetting. You could start hearings immediately.

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 5, 2005 7:38 PM