Miers’ Speeches Show Pattern of Feminism, Liberal Activism     10/26/2005
By CWA Staff

Supreme Court nominee laid out her philosophy while president of the Texas Bar Association.

Two speeches in 1993 by Harriet Miers, while president of the Texas Bar Association, indicate a radical feminist worldview, a penchant for judicial activism, race and sex quotas, a liberal characterization of the abortion debate and government spending, and an inability to articulate her positions clearly.

Abortion, morality and the law

“The ongoing debate continues surrounding the attempt to once again criminalize abortions or to once and for all guarantee the freedom of the individual woman’s right to decide for herself whether she will have an abortion. … And the more I think about these issues, the more self-determination makes the most sense. Legislating religion or morality we gave up on a long time ago.” -- A spring 1993 speech to the Executive Women of Dallas

Here are some excerpts from her speech “Women and Courage” during the summer of 1993, to an undisclosed group, and authenticated by The Washington Post.

Role Models
As examples of courage, she cites various left-wing figures, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, actress Barbra Streisand, and then-Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-Texas). As an example of a figure of courage fighting the odds, she cites a man – Winston Churchill.

As examples of women to emulate, she cites former Attorney General Janet Reno and former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, both extremely liberal. Her opening statement included these remarks concerning Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an ACLU attorney who once advocated lowering the sexual age of consent to 12, and whose nomination was opposed by conservative groups, including Concerned Women for America:

“Her selection has brought praise from many quarters—and she is the most recent in a long list of women whose courage has set them apart and allowed them to achieve positions traditionally reserved for men.” Miers then quotes the Wall Street Journal on Ginsburg: “Read a lot of Judge Ginsberg’s [sic] opinions, and you are struck by the voice. … It is the voice of scrupulous honesty, freedom from cant and strong moral commitment.”

After then lauding Birdie Sue Harwood, a Texas mayor, Miers went on to say:

“Another Texas hero is the Honorable Barbara Jordan. And there is the poignant story about Dr. Jordan. She told us of her realization at one point in her life as she read those great words in the Declaration of Independence – We hold these truths to be self-evident--- that all men are created equal—her realization that those words did not apply to her.”

On Janet Reno

“Recently, we have celebrated the naming of the new Attorney General, the first woman to hold such a post.” In the other speech, given to the Executive Women of Dallas in the spring of 1993, she briefly mentions the disastrous incident in which Reno ordered a federal armed assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, resulting in the deaths of more than 80 men, women and children inside: “The Branch Davidian compound became a sight [sic] for speculation about legal responsibilities and legal rights.”

Sex-baiting

“We all know that Congress and of course the Senate are vastly male-dominated. Even our own State House and Senate are still significantly male-dominated….You can muse about what the reason for this is and I have to conclude that a large factor is the control of financial resources….Usually those millions contributed find their way into the coffers of male candidates.”

Race-baiting
In the speech to the Executive Women of Dallas, she said:

“The justice system is under scrutiny for its very makeup because of the few minorities who serve in the judiciary.…We still have all-white juries trying cases which significantly impact the rights of minorities.…We undeniable [sic] still have a justice system that does not provide justice for all as provided by the Pledge of Allegiance. One justice for the rich, one justice for the poor. One justice sometimes for minorities, one for whites. …[J]ustice for all does not exist.”

Judicial Activism
Following a laundry list of Texas’ apparently dismal record of not spending enough on government social programs (sample: “18 percent of the population….live[s] in poverty”), Miers defends intervention by the courts:

“Allowing conditions to exist so long and get so bad that resort to the Courts is the only answer has not served our State well and we need to reverse this phenomenon.”

“Where science determines the facts, the law can effectively govern. However, when science cannot determine the facts and decisions vary based upon religious belief, then government should not act.”

On Stealth Public Figures (Does this include Supreme Court nominees?)

“We should not as a public respond to politicians whose behavior demonstrates a lack of conviction even though they seem to have a capacity for getting elected. We cannot afford it.

“Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about reform. Those who are in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation.”

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