Charlottesville’s Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III has been named as a potential Supreme Court nominee, a result of his conservative reputation on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Wilkinson ruled against me in a 2-1 split in the 1998 Schleifer v. City of Charlottesville. Naturally, I favored Judge Michael’s dissent:
Today, the majority relegates kids to second-class citizenship by upholding Charlottesville’s nighttime curfew for minors. Forbidding children to go out at night affects their fundamental rights, and such a restriction can be valid only if it withstands strict scrutiny. The Charlottesville curfew ordinance fails the test because it sweeps too broadly and usurps rather than supports parental authority over child rearing. The ordinance has another constitutional defect as well. Although it is a crime to violate the ordinance, the crime is only vaguely defined. The curfew does not apply when minors are “exercising First Amendment rights.” This exception is unconstitutionally vague, leaving children, their parents, and the police to guess whether particular conduct is punishable as a crime.
Still, Judge Wilkinson is the local guy, so when it comes to SCOTUS nominees, I can’t help but favor him.
And, of course, Wilkinson is one of the LEAST conservative of the arch-onservatives on the short list.
But he won’t get it. At 60, he’s over the hill.
Luttig should get the nod, but he won’t. Dubyah will cave to the PC-driven, and
nominate a woman or minortiy (or perhaps even a minority woman).
Maybe someday we’ll just give jobs to the people who are simply the best qualified.