Jesus. Pleas proof read your posts, Dan.

Works for me too.

I approve.

Anything that drives Antonin Scalia closer to the day of his cerebral hemmorhage is okay by me.

Too old.

Sadly, no.

She'd be the one who'd drive us all nuts by always siding with the right-wing nutcases to prove how tough she is.

She'd make Tony Scalia look like Daffy freakin' Duck.

Yeah, do it.

That would be great!

I won't rest until she is Space Pope.

Here come da judge...but how many years is she obligated to stay there? ;)

Would be great...but would she get enough votes from senate Republicans to get confirmed?

I think it would be a terrific idea, one that I've been telling friends for weeks. I think a seat on SCOTUS would be perfect for Hillary's skill set. She's brilliant. I just don't want her "lording" over me in the Oval Office.

I suggested this a month ago. I think she'd be an outstanding justice.

the problem with the SCOTUS is get to retire into a pine box.

she's fine as Senator. its a way easier job.

How is she qualified to be a Justice? Because everyone here seems to like her opinions on things? She has never been a judge, she has only marginal background in legal scholarship, and she has never shown that she is willing to interpret the Constitution in any way other than what she WANTS it to be.

Remember when Harriet Fucking Meirs was being considered by Bush and how everyone here flipped a motherfucking wig about it? How is this any different except for POV on Constitutional issues?

I'd like Lani Guinier. Brilliant legal scholar, and she would really piss of those Xtian reconstructionists on the court. A black female civil rights lawyer and professor. She'd be awesome.

I agree, Sen Clinton will make a great US Supreme Court Justice.

Now, who else to appoint? That's my question ... it's a lifetime appointment.

Dan, what #1 said... "...and President Obama should put HERE there." Think you meant "her"

Make it a two-fer ... Hill and Bill both on SCOTUS.

i like it. she's smart and knows her shit, but she's a god awful politician. she can put her knowledge and skills to good use without having to worry about impressing / not insulting the electorate.

No. Flag burning amendment.

Disclaimer. I am a lawyer.

I've heard worse ideas. And the fact that several republicans have not had the following experience doesn't make it ok.

I'd much prefer someone with a more varied civil background (#15 - she did have significant practice in the private sector), and someone who had actually run a trial court. The scholarchip angle bothers me less - that's what clerks are for.

And she'd never get confirmed in a million billion years.

But I've heard worse.

Wait! That was going to be MY fucking Supreme Court seat!

Plus, Hillary said Bill Clinton wasn't responsible for all the bad stuff in NAFTA; Bill "inherited" it from GHW Bush and had to live with it. And she said her Iraq war vote wasn't really a vote for war. And her border fence vote wasn't really a vote to build a border fence. Come to think of it, is she even qualified to vote on bills in the Senate?

I want her for our first female Senate Majority Leader. The wingnuts' heads would explode, with women heading both houses of Congress, and an African-American President. I think she'd be much more effective as majority leader than Reid has been.

With a lifetime appointment, perhaps she could finally put her inclinations to pander - the same terrible inclinations that lead her, in the worst case, to things like the flag burning amendment DOUG@21 mentions - on the shelf forever, and do what she really thinks.

I could see it.

@19: Bill's been disbarred. He gave up his SCOTUS future to make his perjury charges disappear.

rtm, I think there have only been a handful or worse ideas, none of which actually were carried to fruition. When was the last time she actually practiced law, when was the last time she wasn't used merely to attract clientèle?

She isn't qualified to be a justice except for having a similar view point to almost everyone on slog. Judges, if anything, should be elected on experience, scholarship, and everything but having people agree with her ideals as a politician. and I dont think anyone here could make the case that they truly want her there because she knows her shit when it comes to law(because there are more qualified people out there), but because they agree with her politically on several issues. They want Clinton to make a point and that is the worst reason to be on the Supreme Court.

No -- Hillary should become Majority Leader for life. Harry Reid's not helping his case.

@24

Toss in Bill Richardson as VP, and you have two women, an African-American, and an Hispanic in the top 4 seats of power in the country.

Absolutely not. She has shown incredibly poor judgment on just about every important decision she had to make.

I say challenge her senate seat in the next primary and let her retire with Bill and their millions.

A black robe would definitely be an improvement over those hideous pantsuits.

if it helps us uphold Roe v. Wade I'm all for it.

@22 Why wouldn't she get confirmed? The Gang of 14 will vote for her and that should put it over 60 after the next election. And if they don't, it's the nuclear option with the shoe on the other foot--D's demanding an up or down vote and R's filibustering. I'd love watching the filibustering R's being fed their own "up or down vote" speeches by Jon Stewart every night.

@26 And I also don't think Bill Clinton is disqualified by being disbarred, is he? As long as he meets the Constitutional requirements and is appointed and confirmed...

@19 - but Bill is a white guy - I think it should be Hill, Lani, and then Richardson ...

@16, love the idea of Lani Guinier on the court. Spit in the eye of those Hard right wingers on the court. An appointment that would give Scalia a coronary:)

1. She has a J.D. And a lifetime of law-making/legal experience. That's plenty in my book. Remember that Earl Warren was the Governor of California and had never held any judicial role before becoming Chief Justice, and one of the greatest Justices of all time. Many former Justices were politicians and practicing attorneys without ever sitting on the bench prior to the SC.
2. The Republicans would filibuster her, so the Dems must have at least 60 senators to invoke closure, probably more because moderate dems might revolt at the idea of Justice Clinton.
3. Clinton is supremely qualified, and Harriet Miers was really quite qualified, but that will be an attack launch against her, and the media/public would likely take the bait. However, remember that Miers was torpedoed not by the Dems, but by her own party. Furthermore, Clinton has a much better pedigree than Miers, even if she hasn't been a judge.

To support her, I need to know what her method of constitutional interpretation is. Keep in mind that the likely SC openings are going to come from the liberal block, not the young, conservative block. So, the best we can do over the several years is hold serve. The next appointment can swing the Court the wrong way.

And, yes. I say this because I want to be assured that she will be likely to rule in accord with my beliefs.

No on the SCOTUS.

Obama needs to make her Secretary of State!!!

SCOTUS? SOS? What're you smoking?

How about 1000 hours of community service for the flag-burning amendment, 500 for the Iran vote, and 5000 for the Iraq vote, then let her teach civics to 8th graders.

Such a backhanded compliment for Clinton. Sullivan can't even get through a paragraph without disparaging her- "lord it", "vanity." Same station, same shit.

President Clinton will definitely consult with Vice President Obama when the time comes to fill a SCOTUS vacancy.

very funny @40. If she doesn't get elected, I was hoping she would become the next teddy K and stay for another generation.

I certainly think Hillary's qualified for the court: Yale Law, Law Professor, Watergate Hearings, Partner at a large law firm, Children's Defence Fund and U.S. Senator. Recently there's been this idea that Supreme Court has to be composed of Appellete Court Judges... historically this hasn't been the case (look at Earl Warren). It might be good for the Court to have someone outside the legal monastary who has wide-ranging experience– especially political experience

But

I agree with #5– she's too old. However, from the article Sullivan links to it appears that most of the Democratic Farm Team is around the same age. So if they can get someone younger, appoint them. If they can't, why not Hillary?

LAWRENCE LESSIG FTW

What the fuck is all of this shit about her being too old? She's 60 for fuck's sake, she'll turn 61 on the same day I turn 43. Let's say she's appointed and serves on the court until she's 72, that's 11 years. Now, if you think this is a good idea why wouldn't you want Hillary on the court for 11 years versus some of the other members of the Democratic farm team? Would you rather have a good judge for 11 years or a shitty judge for 20?

We need to fix the Supreme Court. We should increase the number of justices to 11 and give each of them a staggered 22 year term. That way a retirement comes due ever two years, meaning that each president would get to pick two Supreme Court justices (we'd have to figure out what to do in the case of a death to keep things balanced). Doing this would do a lot to remove the excessive partisanship from court appointments and would also eliminate the phenomenon of senile judges hanging on long after they should have retired (Blackmun, Marshall, Rehnquist, etc).

I'd like to see more politicians appointed to the court. Let's face it, the court is already political and as others have pointed out some of the best justices were elected officials before they were appointed to the Court. Earl Warren comes to mind (Jim Newton's book "Justice for All - Earl Warren And The Nation He Made" is brilliant) and there's also William Howard Taft and Charles Evans Hughes. I can't imagine any of them citing 24 like Wop Tony Scalia did as being relevant to Constitutional jurisprudence.

I could totally dig a Supreme Court Justice Hillary Clinton.

The republicans would shit themselves at the idea. Unless the Democrats manage to pull of a supermajority, she has no hope of ever being confirmed.

More realistically, she'd make a good Majority Leader. Harry Ried has been a disgrace.

Didn't I say exactly the same thing about Hillary last week?

Jeez, am I smart or what?

That's exactly how Lincoln got rid of his chief rival for the 1864 republican nomination, former Gov, Sen, and Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase of Ohio. Apparently this sort of thing happens from time to time.

I'm not really seeing it, though it would be awesome if she could haul back and pimp-slap Clarence Thomas.

I'd rather she be president.

Obamamania will fizzle long before the election so the suggestion is a fairy tale. George McGovern like disaster, with a candiate that is truly unqualified

If she can't be Pres, then I want her to be Vice Pres. So does every other schmoe when interviewed on npr, pdq, asap.

Being a Supreme means getting votes from the Repubs, and how does anyone think that'll happen? Hell has not yet frozen over.

Hillary's age is obviously her big problem. The entire point of Rosen's article is that the field is so thin because there aren't many young liberal judges. Rosen even suggests Sotomayor and Wardlaw (by far the best choices for nominees) are too old.

I think Hillary would make an excellent Justice, but I don't necessarily see the long term benefit in appointing a woman of her age, particularly when there are extremely good younger choices -- who are also women and also Hispanic (see Wardlaw and Sotomayor.) I hate that we even have to THINK about the age of justices, but she's older than Roberts, Alito AND Thomas. So that's just a fact.

That won't happen.

A. She'd never get confirmed.
B. She wouldn't take it because she will run for president again.
C. I would rather John Edwards be given a SCOTUS spot and I don't even like him all that much.

But still, I guess my main problem is I think SCOTUS is already bordering on being way too politically motivated as it is

Don't count her out yet folks.

Those saying she wouldn't get confirmed are forgetting about what an insular society the Senate is. Senatorial "courtesy" votes cross the party lines all the time. I do not believe the Senate would Bork one of their own.

If she doesn't get elected, I was hoping she would become the next teddy K and stay for another generation.

You and me both, LMSW@41.