Transcript: Dean Ronald Cass On CQ Radio
Ronald Cass, Dean Emeritus of Boston University’s college of law, appeared on CQ Radio last week. Cass, a member of Rudy Giuliani’s advisory board on judicial matters, spoke about the candidate’s direction on judicial appointments. I've posted the transcript at Heading Right, and it's an interesting look into the direction that the Giuliani campaign has gone thus far to assuage conservatives about Giuliani's policies. The Mayor's social liberalism has gotten a lot of play, perhaps even more so than his efforts to clean up New York City through hard-nosed enforcement of laws that could hardly be claimed as liberalism run amuck.
First, I asked about the composition of the judicial panel, with plenty of representation from the Federalist Society:
MORRISSEY: Now going over the list of people here who are on the committee with you, it’s a very impressive list. I noticed there are at least a couple people here from the federalist society, including yourself and that is certainly something that I think will help conservatives feel a little bit more at ease with Rudy Giuliani. Of course, he’s had some blow back on some of his positions on social issues and some concern over the types of judges that he would appoint. What does it say that you have, first off you have yourself and you have Steven Calabresi who is the co-founder of the federalist society on his committee advising Rudy Giuliani?CASS: Well let me–again I have to answer this in a couple of parts. First as you know Ed, the federalist society doesn’t take positions, it doesn’t endorse candidates. It’s simply a group of people who share common commitment to the constitution and like to come together to talk about it in an environment where other people will engage with you. So we have a lot of people on the committee who are in the leadership of the federalist society including Ted Olson as well as the one’s you’ve mentioned. But it’s not something that should be seen as an endorsement by the society, there will be lots of people who have their own views and their own candidates. But those of us who have been participants of the federalist society, that have been in the leadership of the federalist society are there because we believe deeply in the values of the constitution. We believe in the values of the democracy under law, we believe in the fact that our constitution carves out roles for the states and the federal government for the different branches of the government. That are designed to minimize the power of any one person, individual, official, to engage in activity that reduces our liberty.
Cass underscored the Giuliani campaign's insistence that they would continue appointing jurists in the same tradition as George Bush's nominees. I gave Cass an opening to distance their efforts from the White House, and he demurred:
MORRISSEY: I’m sure you are and what would be the one change that you would say that at least in terms of–the scope of your advisory committee–what would be the one change that you would say we would see between the current administration and the Giuliani Administration? Or if you think there are stronger parallels, what would the parallels be?CASS: I’m not going to draw distinctions between different Republican presidents and administrations. I will say this, I think you know if you look at Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, you see two of the appointments made by President Bush that were excellent appointments. They’re people who understand the limited role of the courts, the limited role of the judges who have great respect for constitutional text and structure. I think that sort of appointment is a terrific appointment. I think Mayor Giuliani would make appointments that are very similar to the court. I think Mayor Giuliani has a deeper understanding and exposure to the legal system because he’s been a lawyer in private practice. He’s been a prosecutor, he’s been an Associate Attorney General, he’s been a US attorney. He has dealt with the system as mayor, he had to over see the application of the system, particularly the criminal system in his compacity as a fellow running a city. He’s seen the system inside and out so much, he’s intimately familiar with it. He understands the issues throughly and this is a top priority for him.
Be sure to read the entire transcript; Cass was an open and engaging guest. In fact, the transcript may not do him much justice. If you get the chance, download the podcast -- you'll get a much better sense of Dean Cass and his quick wit.
Posted by Ed Morrissey on July 23, 2007 8:35 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)
Comments (3)
Posted by syn | July 23, 2007 10:07 AM
The only issue I care about is whether or not the next president is going to take the Democrat position by cutting out of Iraq in order to go fight Al Queda somewhere else.
What is Rudy's position on victory in Iraq and since he spoke recently about the need to attack Pakistan how would attacking Pakistan help to achieve victory in Iraq?
Posted by Thomas Jackson | July 23, 2007 1:02 PM
Its hard to square the circle when you have a record of judicial appointments. Contrary to what Rudy pledges when he was in officer he appointed 76 democrats to judgeships and six Republicans. Now this might not mean that these judges weren't strict constructionists but does anyone truly believe NYC liberals adhere to the meaning of the constitution?
Sorry but Rudy's record just pass the laugh test.
Posted by Thomas Jackson | July 23, 2007 1:04 PM
Its hard to square the circle when you have a record of judicial appointments. Contrary to what Rudy pledges when he was in officer he appointed 76 democrats to judgeships and six Republicans. Now this might not mean that these judges weren't strict constructionists but does anyone truly believe NYC liberals adhere to the meaning of the constitution?
Sorry but Rudy's record just pass the laugh test.