2 Texas judges will visit, speak on Miers' behalf

One is a Democrat; some believe he'll do little to calm critical conservatives.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two former Texas Supreme Court chief justices are the White House's latest weapon in the fight to calm the conservative uproar over Harriet Miers' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
John Hill and Thomas Phillips are due in Washington on Monday, bringing testimonials about Miers' qualifications based on their dealings with her in Texas.
Despite his longtime support for George W. Bush, Hill is a Democrat whose word may not be the right salve for those among the Republican right most nervous about Miers' judicial philosophy.
Also, it was unclear whether either Hill or Phillips ever heard Miers argue the kind of cases that might rebut criticism that she lacks knowledge of constitutional issues.
Focus on accomplishments
As Miers' confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee near, the White House is seeking to refocus the debate on the White House counsel's r & eacute;sum & eacute; as a distinguished lawyer in Texas and legal adviser at the highest levels of government. The appearance by Hill and Phillips is part of that tack.
"Part of it is to reassure those who don't know her that she's the real deal," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is trying to help smooth the way for Miers' confirmation, said Saturday.
Cornyn said Hill and Phillips plan to tell personal stories of their experience watching Miers operate in the upper echelons of Texas legal circles. Hill was a member of the Texas Lottery Commission with Miers in the late 1990s. Phillips was chief justice when Miers was president of the State Bar of Texas from 1992 to 1993.
In a letter Friday to the Senate committee, Hill and Phillips said Miers' accomplishments in Texas -- leader of a prestigious law firm, the first female president of both the Dallas Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas -- "can only be attributed to her legal brilliance."
"We feel confident that we know what it takes to be a justice -- Harriet Miers exceeds that mark," said the letter, also signed by former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Joe R. Greenhill.
Hill served for nearly two years with Miers on the Texas Lottery Commission, which she led from 1995-2000. Hill was appointed to the commission by then-Gov. Bush in January 1997.
But the conservative National Review magazine derided lottery commission experience as a qualification.
"She has had real accomplishments," the editorial said. "But it speaks volumes that the president cited her service on a lottery commission as a reason to put her on the Supreme Court."
Justices' histories
A Democrat, Hill lost a bid for governor in 1978 and was chief justice of the state Supreme Court from 1985 to 1988. Miers was president of the Dallas Bar Association during that time.
Hill has a history of supporting Bush. Hill was sent to the Democratic convention in 2000 as a Bush supporter.
In addition to making himself available in recent weeks to speak out on Miers' behalf, Hill defended Priscilla Owen, a conservative Texas Supreme Court justice who was the subject of a long and heated Senate confirmation battle for a federal appeals court seat.
Phillips is a Republican from Dallas who took Hill's place as chief justice. Phillips resigned in 2004 after nearly 17 years on the court.
The contact between a chief justice and a president of the State Bar of Texas is fairly extensive because of the high court's duties overseeing the state's lawyers, said Cornyn, himself a former Texas Supreme Court justice.
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