rpupkin wrote:wwwcol wrote:charmonster wrote:Anonymous User wrote:I'm clerking for a GOP appointed judge who has sent clerks to both liberal and conservative SCOTUS and I was asked no questions on the subject of any ideological issues. I don't think ideology will factor much in my experience.
I was asked in an interview for another GOP appointed judge who my favorite justice was. I know this judge did not like my answer. Needless to say, I did not receive an offer.
"GOP appointed" isn't a very meaningful category here.
This is a trap people regularly fall into, but you often cannot infer conservatism from the fact that Reagan or Bush I or [insert president] appointed a judge, especially at the district court level.
Eh. It's less of a trap now than it was 30 or 40 years ago. As the judicial nomination/appointment process has become increasingly politicized over the last 20 years, we see fewer and fewer judges appointed--even at the district-court level--who stray from the liberal/conservative line of the Democratic/Republican parties. If a judge was appointed by GWB, there's a very good chance that the judge is relatively conservative. Likewise, if a judge was appointed by BHO, there's a very good chance that the judge is relatively liberal. There are exceptions, but those exceptions are getting rarer.
This is true, except in states with two reilable Senate seats for the other party. A lot of the district court nominations in those states are still given to Senators, even though blue slips are in danger of dying out at the circuit level.