Quote:
Originally posted by taxwonk
The most telling sentence in the article was: "Noone can or should plan a career around being a Supreme Court justice." He probably felt he'd been passed over for what would be his best shot and decided to take the cash.
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Well, I think he's probably right. Clearly Bush wasn't going to appoint him, although it's always possible down the line with another R. It's not like his backer was Bush. His backers were a cabal of conservatives who will remain around.
Another nugget that was added to the article since I posted the link:
"Luttig said his criticism of the administration "had nothing whatsoever to do with this [Padilla] decision, which is more far-reaching than any particular case."
It's phrased a bit awkwardly, but I think the "which" refers back to his critiscism of the adminstration, which is another, perhaps even more interesting reason for resigning. If I read it correctly, and it's an accurate quote, that may be an even stronger statement than Robertson's resigntion from the FISA court after the revelation of the NSA wiretaps.
ETA: It does open up a seat for Kavanagh on the 4th circuit. My recollection is he was originally nominated to the 4th, for a "Maryland" seat (i.e., the space was a maryland-based 4th cir. judge). The maryland senators blocked it on that ground, so he was nominated to the DC Circuit instead. I suspect if he gets nominated to the 4th circuit to replace luttig, it would be pretty hard to argue that Bush is making that court more conservative.
