Bush to look to Roberts model in new Court pick

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush is expected to focus his search for a new Supreme Court nominee on a core group of conservative judges and abandon an attempt to find someone not already a judge, legal analysts.

Bush had plucked his little-known White House counsel, Harriet Miers, out of obscurity for the nomination, saying he hoped a non-judge would add perspective to the high court.

But the nomination set off a battle with conservatives over whether she would move the court to the right, and Miers abruptly pulled her name from consideration today.

Legal analysts said they believe Bush will go back to his original shortlist and try to find someone with a background similar to that of US Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative judge well-versed in constitutional law.

In contrast to Miers, whose confirmation process got off to a rocky start with her prospects getting shakier by the day, Bush's nomination of Roberts sailed through to win US Senate approval even from many Democrats who were impressed by his Ivy League credentials and knowledge of constitutional law.

"They're probably going to turn back to the Roberts model," said Brad Berenson, a Washington lawyer and former associate White House counsel.

Bush pledged he would move quickly to name a replacement for Miers, who withdrew amid a chorus of criticism about her views and background.

Names that circulated before the surprise Miers pick are seen as once again in play. Those include conservative federal appeals court judges Michael McConnell, Michael Luttig, Samuel Alito, Edith Jones, Alice Batchelder and Michigan Supreme Court Justice Maura Corrigan.

Other candidates were seen as appeals court judges Diane Sykes, Karen Williams, Harvie Wilkinson and Priscilla Owen, although Owen, bitterly opposed by Democrats, was reported to have withdrawn her name from consideration for the court opening for which Bush eventually nominated Miers.

"The overall lesson of the two nominations taken together is that there is considerable safety in drawing from the very small pool of people who are universally considered qualified for appointment," Berenson said.

Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, said he thought an announcement of a Miers replacement could come by the middle of next week.

"It's not as if they don't have a shortlist here -- they do. I expect there will be quick movement," Sekulow said, adding that Bush would likely pick someone already on the federal bench.

Roger Pilon, a constitutional scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute, said: "The hope is that the president -- or more likely someone on his staff who is more familiar with these issues will prevail upon him to select someone of the highest caliber." Eugene Volokh, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, said that if Bush were looking for a Roberts type, he could turn to McConnell, a judge on the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and leading First Amendment scholar.

Luttig, who sits on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, is "tremendously well-respected" in conservative circles, Volokh said.

- REUTERS