Jenkins has found someone to substitute for Mary Ann Glendon. John T. Noonan, Jr., a Reagan appointee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
A jurist of note, one of the rare voices of sanity on what is often referred to in legal circles as the “Ninth Circus”, Noonan is also a scholar of standing. Here is a list of his books. Noonan’s pro-life credentials are impeccable. He was fighting against legal abortion before Roe, and his writings on the subject speak for themselves. Noonan is a dissenter on the teaching of the Church against contraception. If he has ever retracted his writings on the subject I am unaware of it.
Noonan, a 1984 recipient of the Laetare Medal, will deliver an address at the commencement, and the Medal will not be awarded this year. I hope my candidate for the Medal is not crushed.
If Noonan were to debate Obama on the issue of abortion, I of course would have no difficulty with this event. As it is, Jenkins has found himself another figleaf for Obama Day.
Yeah, so sad for Doug’s being snubbed for a regifted Laetare Medal.
But there’s always a Supreme Court vacancy to which he can hold out some delusional remote hope of being nominated.
My guess for SCOTUS is Kagan. I’d be willing to bet Kmiec isn’t even in Obama’s top 50.
Kmiec’s not even a remote consideration. Not even on Obama’s radar screen. I’d be shocked if Obama views Kmiec with anything other than the the same disdainful contempt with which the British viewed Benedict Arnold.
I agree with Feddie that it’s likely to be Diane Wood. Although Kagan is a good guess, as well.
It would be interesting to have Mr. Noonan’s analysis of the actual working of the contraceptive methods. Condoms are contraceptive – preventing the union of sperm and egg. Pills, IUDs, and other methods are abortifacient – preventing a created fetus from installing itself in the uterus.