Reply #162: those professional credentials are not without their value, but [View All]

i think some sort of connection with and understanding of the life of the diverse and complex society about the governance of which they are going to have to make hugely important decisions is more important. So a decent supreme court will of course consist of talented lawyers, but within those limitations appointments should be driven by the aim of getting as geographically and socially mixed a court as possible.

I'm not sure that even by the standards you've mentioned the graduates of these few schools are necessarily the "best" in their field, but even if that were the case they would still inevitably tend to lack qualities like an understanding and sympathy for members of society outside their elite-of-the-elite milieu. This will come into play in cases concerning e.g. the rights of private business, I would argue.

I don't think many people voted for Obama on the basis of the particular academic background of the judges he was likely to appoint, although no doubt many did on the basis of the likelihood that he would appoint liberals. He can appoint whoever he likes, I just think he could have acted in a way that was better for your country and taken some issues into heavier account than he apparently has.