Evolving views of conservative jurists

Re “Her roots aren’t Ivy League,”

Opinion, Oct. 5

As a graduate of an Ivy League law school (Cornell ‘56) I am compelled to reply to this article, because it confirms the venerable legal rule that there is no law west of the Pecos, and probably no law west of the Mississippi. And this article supports the view that if jurists such as Justices David Souter and Anthony Kennedy will abandon or modify their conservative views because they have met Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times or members of the Harvard and Yale law schools’ faculties, then it logically follows that their beliefs were not worth very much in the first place.

ROBERT C. GUSMAN

Calabasas

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In their Opinion article, Marvin and Peter Olasky seem to suggest that the only mechanisms that could possibly drive a conservative judge toward a more progressive view are “Washington dinner parties, laudatory editorials from the nation’s great liberal newspapers and, perhaps most important, praise from the smug savants back at dear old Yale or Harvard.” Rather than tremulous fear of dinner party scorn, perhaps judges move leftward -- or, as I prefer, back to the center -- during their tenure simply by learning something and finally getting it right.

RICHARD LEVINSON

Van Nuys

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Marvin and Peter Olasky comment on why, according to political analyst Larry Sabato, Supreme Court justices evolve toward liberal positions. Missing from the article is the real reason for this shift. Throughout American history, conservatives have been on the losing side. They opposed Social Security (and apparently still do), opposed civil rights and most other government efforts to protect Americans from unfettered market forces.

It is no accident that the majority of intellectuals are liberal -- they are more thoughtful and open-minded, so they understand the importance of that protection. And most Supreme Court justices are intellectuals, so they come to understand. The purpose of conservatives is to prevent liberals from moving too fast toward social justice.

MAXWELL EPSTEIN

Santa Monica

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It’s funny seeing anti-affirmative action Republicans justify the nomination of Harriet Miers. Whatever happened to earning your position, experience, the most qualified person?

ELWOOD RICHARDSON

Alhambra

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I praise Bush for nominating Miers. It is positive and reflects an openness that I do not often associate with Bush.

KARL STRANDBERG

Long Beach