The Volokh Conspiracy - Biden to Help Pick Judges?:

Jeff Rosen writes in the New Republic that if Obama wins, "Biden's instincts will help guide the selection of judges and the challenging task of reconstructing civil liberties after the assault of the last eight years." Even if one accepted Rosen's underlying ideological (and pro-Biden) premises--which I don't (isn't Biden the one who attacked Bork for not believing in unenumerated rights, and then attacked Thomas a few years later for exactly the opposite reason?)--this seems to be wishful thinking on Rosen's part. I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but the Vice-President has no obvious constitutional or political role to play in selecting judges, and I don't recall the Vice-President ever, in fact, playing a significant role (or any role) in selecting federal judges. It's not clear to me why Biden would be the first. Sure, he has tons of relevant experience, but it's not like Obama, a former law school lecturer, can't figure out how to run the judicial selection process without bringing his V.P in.

Hat tip: Instapundit.

UPDATE: Just to be clear, it's not completely outside the realm of possibility that Obama would give Biden some significant role in judicial selection. However, it would be against historical practice, and I haven't seen any evidence, including from Rosen, that Obama would in fact do so. Rosen may (or may not) be right that it would a good idea for Obama to consult Biden, but that's very different from suggesting that such consultation is a foregone conclusion.

FURTHER UPDATE: A reader points out that Dick Cheney was apparently intimately involved in choosing Chief Justice Rehnquist's successor.

	[David Bernstein, September 10, 2008 at 9:49pm] Trackbacks Biden to Help Pick Judges?: Jeff Rosen writes in the New Republic that if Obama wins, "Biden's instincts will help guide the selection of judges and the challenging task of reconstructing civil liberties after the assault of the last eight years." Even if one accepted Rosen's underlying ideological (and pro-Biden) premises--which I don't (isn't Biden the one who attacked Bork for not believing in unenumerated rights, and then attacked Thomas a few years later for exactly the opposite reason?)--this seems to be wishful thinking on Rosen's part. I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but the Vice-President has no obvious constitutional or political role to play in selecting judges, and I don't recall the Vice-President ever, in fact, playing a significant role (or any role) in selecting federal judges. It's not clear to me why Biden would be the first. Sure, he has tons of relevant experience, but it's not like Obama, a former law school lecturer, can't figure out how to run the judicial selection process without bringing his V.P in. Hat tip: Instapundit. UPDATE: Just to be clear, it's not completely outside the realm of possibility that Obama would give Biden some significant role in judicial selection. However, it would be against historical practice, and I haven't seen any evidence, including from Rosen, that Obama would in fact do so. Rosen may (or may not) be right that it would a good idea for Obama to consult Biden, but that's very different from suggesting that such consultation is a foregone conclusion. FURTHER UPDATE: A reader points out that Dick Cheney was apparently intimately involved in choosing Chief Justice Rehnquist's successor.