Last month the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran an op-ed piece from Seattle attorneys Leonard Feldman and Tom Burt. They say that when voters go to the polls in November, one of the most important issues will be the judges each candidate has pledged to nominate. But they have stern warnings about McCain's approach to judicial picks.

Americans will be making a choice between real change and a continuation of many of the policies of the Bush administration -- policies that McCain has endorsed repeatedly.

Our federal judges should be selected and appointed because they have a solid track record of intelligence, hard work and common sense, not because they will support the political and social agenda of the radical right.

I sent a letter to the editor in response, but imagine my surprise...it still hasn't been printed.

So here's what I wrote:

Leonard Feldman and Tom Burt painted a doomsday scenario should John McCain get elected and appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court (Sept. 18 op-ed). I think they overstate the case.
 
To be a conservative jurist means understanding separation of powers: the legislative branch makes law, and the judicial branch interprets the law. And originalism--where justices seek to give the constitution the meaning it bore when the people adopted it--isn't extreme. It's just common sense. 
 
The president's politics are no sure prediction of how a judge will judge. Moderate and liberal justices Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, David Souter, and John Paul Stevens were all appointed by Republicans. The current Supreme Court, which Feldman and Burt seem to fear, has shown itself quite willing to buck the Bush Administration on major policy issues.
 
True, the next president will wield significant influence over the direction of the Supreme Court. John McCain has said he'll appoint justices who understand the clear limits to the scope of judicial power. Barack Obama has said he wants to appoint justices who have "heart" and "empathy"--apparently Obama thinks the Supreme Court needs more judges like American Idol's Paula Abdul.