Thursday, April 22, 2010

SCOTUS Appointment Considerations

I still haven't researched potential Supreme Court nominees to have an opinion. A few articles I've read seem to be suggesting Diane Wood, one of the more liberal possibilities, would be best, in part because she is very good at convincing the conservative members of her court. We'll see.

I've also heard a few times that retiring Justice Stevens is currently the only Protestant Justice and the only Justice with military experience, he was a cryptographer in World War II, having enlisted the day before Pearl Harbor. There's also been talk that perhaps the court should have some more diversity and have some non-judges.

This reminded me of an NPR story I heard a while ago and had a hard time tracking down. I don't know much more about him, but how about Colby Vokey? Respected Marine Lawyer Alleges Military Injustices:

"By all accounts, Colby Vokey is a model officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, at one point helping command an artillery unit in Kuwait during the Gulf War in 1991.

For the past four years, Vokey has served as chief of all the Corps' defense lawyers in the western United States — and he's played a key role in some of the military's most sensitive legal issues, including the murder investigation in Haditha, Iraq, and in the debate about detainees at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

"Colby Vokey?" muses retired Col. Jane Siegel "Integrity almost seems like a word too small to describe him."

Says Lt. Col. Matthew Cord, "He's just one of the best."

So when Vokey announced recently that he wanted to leave the Corps, it said something troubling about the military system of justice that he's served for almost 20 years. Vokey charges that some commanders and officials in the Bush administration have abused the system of justice, and he's going to retire from the Corps May 1, 2008."

As I said, don't know much about him. He's currently a lawyer in Dallas. I'm mostly posting this to point people at this story (again) and because I'm wondering how the Republican's would argue against him...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Howard,

This is Colby Vokey. Someone forwarded me your blog about me as a potential Supreme Court nominee. I felt honored that someone would throw my name out there. Unfortunately, it didn't get much traction and no one from the administration gave me a call. Nonetheless, thanks for the kind words. Brought a smile to my face.

Howard said...

If it's really you (and it seems that way), I'm honored and your comment brought a smile to my face. The NPR piece on you really stuck in my head. Clearly the best comment I've ever received. :)

If it's not you, well whoever it was, I'm impressed and don't know want to know any differently. :)