I can’t think of a better Supreme Court nominee than Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit. He’s a brilliant judge, and has written very influential opinions on everything from the admissibility of expert testimony to antitrust. He’s a judicial conservative, but with exactly the sort of libertarian instincts that are desireable during a prolonged War on Terror. He’s respectful of property rights and federalism, but would be very difficult to pigeonhole as a “judicial activist.” He has spent the past twenty years out of politics and outside the Beltway, which should be a huge plus for any nominee (and, contrariwise, a good reason not to appoint Luttig, Gonzalez, and others). He’d splinter left-wing opposition, because it’s hard to imagine the ACLU opposing such a champion of the First Amendment. And he has a very compelling personal story, as an immigrant son of Romanian Holocaust survivors.
Kozinski’s big downside is that he has a colorful personality, which isn’t generally considered an asset in potential Supreme Court nominees–though it didn’t hurt William O. Douglas any. But the upside far outweights the downside.
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