Another list
here
1. Politics
* She contributed to Bush and to the Bush-Cheney recount fund that helped Bush get selected to the White House over Gore in 2000 [via Newsweek].
* She has made campaign contributions to Democrats (Al Gore, Lloyd Bentsen, DNC) back in 1988, but has given much more to Republicans - and exclusively so after 1994 [via Americablog, Newsweek and Slingshot].
* As hard as it to believe, one conservative claims that her political contributions to Democrats in the late 1980s were requested by a Democratic law firm colleague - a request that she allegedly acceeded to (via WorldMagBlog). RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie claimed she was a "conservative Democrat" in the early 1980s before she became Republican [via Political Animal].
* "Reports on Miers donations to Gore forget Gore chair became Republican Texas governor [Rick Perry]" - Perry was a Democrat until 1989 [via Raw Story].
* She also contributed to "Nebraskan Donald Stenberg, of Stenberg v. Carhart fame, the leading national campaigner against late-term abortion." [via Slingshot]
2. Cronyism
* In fact, Miers has proven herself to be a GOP hack and both a personal and political crony of President George Bush. She was "a top-level regular in the �Strategery Group,� where Bush�s top political advisers contemplated how to use the levers of government to advance the Republican Party. As staff secretary, Miers had final say over every paper that crossed the President�s desk." [via Slingshot]
* President Bush's former speechwriter David Frum has claimed that "She once told me that the president was the most brilliant man she had ever met." [via Brad DeLong]
* She has "has represented the Administration's policies in the most favorable light, including economic policy, No Child Left Behind, and drilling in ANWR" [via ACS Blog]. Also, her belief that the Bush budget is "a restoration of fiscal discipline" makes it apparent that she is not exactly unbiased when it comes to this administration and its policies [via Carpetbagger Report].
* She is a staunch Bush loyalist and Bush worshipper (more here) who was also self-investigated Bush's TX-ANG AWOL problem [via Georgia10 at Dailykos, Political Animal and Newsweek]. It is not entirely clear what role did she play in the Ben Barnes payoff and the Texas Lottery scandal [via Attytood, Booman Tribune and Jensequitir at Dailykos]. Her research on Bush's past allowed Alberto Gonzales to get a jury duty waiver that allowed Bush to keep secret his 1976 arrest for drunken driving [via Newsweek]. More here [via Buzzflash].
3. Legal Experience and Judiciary
* She has never been a judge and has no experience arguing cases before the Supreme Court. However, she would join a long line of past SCOTUS judges who did not have prior judicial experience. [via FindLaw].
* Her legal experience appears to be rather thin [via Americablog].
* She seems to have only argued 4 cases in Texas state courts in 30 years [via Is That Legal].
* She also seems to have argued only 3 cases in 30 years at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (and lost all three) [via Is That Legal].
* The law firm where she was a Managing Partner had to settle or pay damages (in the millions) for defrauding investors [via David Sirota, Huff Post]. More here and here [via Blue Mass Group and Burnt Orange Report].
* Back in 1968 she authored a Law Review note where she seemed to effectively acknowledge that courts can legislate from the bench [via Is That Legal].
* She seems to be detail-oriented when she wants to be [via Legal Times].
4. Executive Power, National Security and Civil Liberties
* She was staff secretary and briefed Bush at his ranch on August 6, 2001 - which was when Bush decided to stay asleep at the wheel after reading the PDB warning that Osama bin Laden was determined to attack the U.S. [via Eschaton]
* She likely had some degree of involvement with the Bush White House response to the Valerie Plame identity leak probe [via Georgia10 at Dailykos].
* She provided significant guidance on the issues of Presidential powers during wars, torture, etc. [via Georgia10 at Dailykos].
* It is clear that one of the principal reasons for her cronyist nomination is to prevent judicial oversight over Bush's Executive powers in the unending "War on Terror" [via Slingshot].
* She does not seem to believe that filibusters are constitutional since it is her contention that the President's nominees deserve an up-or-down vote [via Washington Post] .
* She seems to have pushed for retaining American Bar Association (ABA) review of potential judicial nominees in the Bush White House, despite opposition from Alberto Gonzales [via David Corn in The Nation].
5. Corporatism and Economic Issues
* Her former law firm was anti-union and fought cases against unions [via Confined Space].
* She worked closely with Microsoft to allow Microsoft to push through defective software without legal ramifications [via Sligshot].
6. Socio-Cultural Issues
* At one time, she seems to have expressed some interest in addressing a gay group and taking positions in support of gay rights [via Americablog].
* However, she did not support a Bill to outlaw the Texas law banning sodomy (which was later repealed by the Supreme Court) [via Washington Blade].
* She is quite clearly anti-abortion. [via Americablog and Washington Blade] More on this here [via Olinda at Dailykos], here [via Free Republic] and here/here [via Tapped]. But also read this [via ACS Blog].
7. Law and Order and Civil Rights
* She has written that to reduce crime one needs to also address its root causes: "...the social issues that foster criminal behavior, such as: lack of self-esteem or hope in some segments of our society, poverty, lack of health care (particularly mental health care), lack of education, and family dysfunction..." [via TNR's &c].
* She has worked with a "non-denominational Christian organization established to assist ex-offenders and their families become productive members of society by meeting both their spiritual and physical needs" [via Americablog]. More on this here [via Sentencing Law and Policy].
* She has encouraged Bar Association members to do pro bono work [via Americablog].
* There was one report suggesting she may not be opposed to an International Criminal Court (ICC) [via Americablog] but this is almost certainly inaccurate since the document in question did not reflect (any) recommended policy positions [via RedState].
* She received "a civil rights award from the Anti-Defamation League in 1996 and chaired the Dallas Bar's Committee for the Provision of Civil Legal Services to the Poor" [via Is That Legal].
8. Environmental Issues
*
TBD
9. Religion/Church-State
* There are reports that she is a "devout Christian".
10. Other
*
TBD