In my first post, examining the record of judicial appointments by presidential candidates who served as Governor, I took a look at how Tim Pawlenty shifted the Minnesota Supreme Court to the right. In this post, I will examine the judicial record of former Massachusetts governor and front-runner for the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney. Romney’s record of judicial appointments is more complex than Pawlenty’s. His record provides fodder to his critics, who might criticize the selection of several Democrats and Independents to judiciary posts. However, a thorough examination of Romney’s approach to judicial appointments shows that he was committed to integrity of the process, was focused on criminal prosecution, was prudent in his judicial selections, and can be trusted to appoint conservatives to the United States Supreme Court.
The United States Supreme Court is at a critical juncture in its history. Whoever wins the 2012 Presidential election will most likely have the opportunity to shape the court, and possibly shift the balance of power for decades. As conservatives select our nominee for President, one of the major issues that must be considered is the type of judicial nominees they would make as President. As a result of the importance of the high court, this will be the first in a series of posts looking at the past state Supreme Court nominees made by the presidential candidates who previously served as governor. In this post we will look at the Minnesota Supreme Court picks made by Tim Pawlenty. They are a group of strict constructionist conservative judges, which very well may be Pawlenty’s lasting legacy and his greatest accomplishment as Governor.
