Douglas Kmiec
Encyclopedia
Douglas W. Kmiec is an American
legal scholar, author, and former U.S. ambassador. He is the Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law
. Kmiec came to prominence during the United States presidential election, 2008
when, although a Republican
, he endorsed Democrat
Barack Obama
. In July 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Malta
. He was confirmed by the Senate and served for close to two years as ambassador to Malta. He resigned his post effective May 31, 2011.
in 1973 and his Juris Doctor
(J.D.) from the University of Southern California
in 1976. He was a member of the school's law review
and was awarded the Legion Lex Commencement Prize for Legal Writing.
Kmiec was a member of the faculty at Valparaiso University School of Law, then taught at Notre Dame Law School
from 1980 to 1999, with several leaves to serve in the Office of Legal Counsel
for Presidents Ronald Reagan
and George H.W. Bush. At Notre Dame, he directed the Thomas White Center on Law & Government and founded the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy
. From 2001 to 2003, Kmiec was the Dean and St. Thomas More Professor of the law school at the Catholic University of America. Following his Catholic University of America deanship, Kmiec assumed the endowed chair in constitutional law at Pepperdine University School of Law
. Kmiec also teaches at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.
, Meet the Press
, and NPR
, analyzing constitutional questions. He writes the Faith and Precedent column for the Catholic News Service
.
When asked what it "mean[s] to teach within a Catholic framework", Kmiec responded:
on Proposition 8
, the amendment to the state constitution which limited marriage to opposite-sex couples, Kmiec and his colleague Shelley Ross Saxer, co-wrote an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle
. They opened by explaining "One of us (Saxer) opposed Prop. 8 for civil rights reasons; Kmiec supported it for reasons of religious liberty. Today, both of us believe the arguments in support of Prop. 8 fail each of these interests." They offer two reasons for "resisting" Proposition 8: 1) it could be read too broadly; 2) it ignores the different religious practices of the citizenry. "Marriage", they argue, "is of religious origin; it should remain there." Therefore, in order to retain the separation of church and state
, they suggest that the state use consistent terminology for all couples, gay and straight, extending the same bundle of secular rights. If a couple wanted "marriage," Proposition 8 should prevent the state from dealing with the topic, which means it could again become the sole province of religious bodies. Of this view, Time
wrote: "The Pepperdine idea puts into a play a new way of thinking — and whether it's part of the court's decision in the Prop 8 case or whether it makes its way into a new referendum, the idea of getting governments out of the marriage business offers a creative way of thinking about a problem that is otherwise likely to be around for a long, long time.
Mitt Romney
, Kmiec "caused a stir" when he endorsed Democrat
Barack Obama
in the 2008 presidential election
in a piece on Slate
. As he explained in an interview with the Chicago Tribune
, "One of the things I kept discovering...was that Obama was sounding more Catholic than most Catholics I know." The issues that drew Kmiec's attention were wages, health care, and the cost of the Iraq War. To those fellow Catholics and pro-life
advocates who were surprised at his position, he argued that Obama's desire to "alleviate social conditions that correlate with abortion", such as poverty, was convincing. In the endorsement itself, Kmiec explained his disagreements with Obama, especially over the issue of abortion, but indicated that it was time to find common ground on this and other topics. Kmiec opened his piece by praising Obama's "integrity, intelligence, and genuine good will".
As a result of endorsing the pro-choice Obama, Kmiec was denied Communion in May 2008 at a Red Mass
for Catholic business people in California. Kmiec confirmed the incident with Nina Totenberg
, NPR's legal correspondent and E. J. Dionne of The Washington Post
wrote a column noting how John Kerry
and other Catholic public officials had been threatened with communion denial in 2004 because of their pro-choice position, but the first actual denial was experienced by Kmiec, a Catholic layman. After review, Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
called the action "shameful and indefensible" and asked the priest to write a letter of apology to Kmiec.
In the midst of the election, Kmiec proceeded to write Can A Catholic Support Him?: Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama (2008) to explain his support for Senator Obama in light of Catholic principles. The book's introduction was written by West Wing actor Martin Sheen
. Sheen and Kmiec did a series of radio and video commentaries for the Matthew 25 network in support of Obama. Kmiec also campaigned for the candidate as part of his "Faith, Family and Values Tour".
Obama was invited to speak at Notre Dame
's commencement, which stirred controversy due to his pro-choice
stance. Kmiec supported Obama speaking at the university and suggested to the administration that they use the speech as an opportunity to discuss the issues on which both sides of the abortion debate already agree: "we both respect life, we both view abortion as a moral tragedy".
After David Souter
retired from the Supreme Court, Kmiec authored a lead article in the National Catholic weekly, America
, making the case for "empathy" as a necessary value in the selection of a nominees for the high court.
. He was confirmed by the Senate. In April 2011, he was criticized by the Inspector General of the State Department for spending too much time on what the OIG reported as unofficial --i.e. religious-- duties, which Kmiec saw as integral to his ambassadorial role. Joshua DuBois, special assistant to the president for faith-based initiatives, described the Kmiec nomination and appointment in precisely these terms, however, referring to a mandate (seemingly not considered by the OIG) as "the special presidential logic" of the appointment and its core mission. By contrast, the Inspector General saw the religious writing as "not directly related to his mission," writes Tiffany Stanley of The New Republic
. Continues Stanley: "in the annals of diplomatic misbehavior, Kmiec's is rather an unusual case. Even the critical OIG report notes that embassy morale was good, he was respected by the Maltese and his staff, and had 'achieved some policy successes'. The problem, it seems, was that Kmiec may have taken the job a little too seriously." Columnist Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times writes: "Over the last few years, Kmiec has emerged as one of this country's most important witnesses to the proposition that religious conviction and political civility need not be at odds; that reasonable people of determined good conscience, whatever their faith or lack thereof, can find ways to cooperate in the common good. Though Kmiec has not sought their intervention, the president and the secretary of State ought to deal with the bureaucrats seeking to silence a voice whose only offense is to speak in the vocabulary of our own better angels." Kmiec did not ask the president to intervene, but instead expressing his continued confidence in the president's leadership, resigned effective May 31, 2011.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
legal scholar, author, and former U.S. ambassador. He is the Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law
Pepperdine University School of Law
The Pepperdine University School of Law is a law school located on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.The school placed 54th among the nation's "Top 100" law schools according to the 2011 U.S. News and World Report rankings and is the third highest ranked law school in...
. Kmiec came to prominence during the United States presidential election, 2008
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
when, although a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, he endorsed Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. In July 2009, he was nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. He was confirmed by the Senate and served for close to two years as ambassador to Malta. He resigned his post effective May 31, 2011.
Education and career
Kmiec received his undergraduate degree with honors from Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 1973 and his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
(J.D.) from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in 1976. He was a member of the school's law review
Law review
A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
and was awarded the Legion Lex Commencement Prize for Legal Writing.
Kmiec was a member of the faculty at Valparaiso University School of Law, then taught at Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame Law School
The Notre Dame Law School, or NDLS, is the professional graduate law program of its parent institution, the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, NDLS is the oldest Roman Catholic law school in the United States. NDLS is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 100 Law Schools" by U.S. News &...
from 1980 to 1999, with several leaves to serve in the Office of Legal Counsel
Office of Legal Counsel
The Office of Legal Counsel is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General in his function as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies.-History:...
for Presidents Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and George H.W. Bush. At Notre Dame, he directed the Thomas White Center on Law & Government and founded the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy
Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy
The Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy is a law review published by Notre Dame Law School, founded by Douglas Kmiec. The current editor in chief is Joe Graham. It focuses on modern legal/political problems from a moral/ethical framework...
. From 2001 to 2003, Kmiec was the Dean and St. Thomas More Professor of the law school at the Catholic University of America. Following his Catholic University of America deanship, Kmiec assumed the endowed chair in constitutional law at Pepperdine University School of Law
Pepperdine University School of Law
The Pepperdine University School of Law is a law school located on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.The school placed 54th among the nation's "Top 100" law schools according to the 2011 U.S. News and World Report rankings and is the third highest ranked law school in...
. Kmiec also teaches at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.
Scholarship and legal thought
Kmiec has been a White House Fellow and a Distinguished Fulbright Scholar on the Constitution in Asia. His published works include The Attorney General's Lawyer (1992), three books on the American Constitution, a two-volume legal treatise, related books, and hundreds of published articles and essays. He is a frequent guest in the media on programs such as PBS's NewsHourThe NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
PBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
, Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
, and NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, analyzing constitutional questions. He writes the Faith and Precedent column for the Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service is an American news agency covering the Roman Catholic Church. CNS was established in 1920 and is a leading source of news for Catholic print and broadcast media throughout the world....
.
When asked what it "mean[s] to teach within a Catholic framework", Kmiec responded:
Proposition 8
Days before the arguments in front of the Supreme Court of CaliforniaSupreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
on Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
, the amendment to the state constitution which limited marriage to opposite-sex couples, Kmiec and his colleague Shelley Ross Saxer, co-wrote an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. They opened by explaining "One of us (Saxer) opposed Prop. 8 for civil rights reasons; Kmiec supported it for reasons of religious liberty. Today, both of us believe the arguments in support of Prop. 8 fail each of these interests." They offer two reasons for "resisting" Proposition 8: 1) it could be read too broadly; 2) it ignores the different religious practices of the citizenry. "Marriage", they argue, "is of religious origin; it should remain there." Therefore, in order to retain the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
, they suggest that the state use consistent terminology for all couples, gay and straight, extending the same bundle of secular rights. If a couple wanted "marriage," Proposition 8 should prevent the state from dealing with the topic, which means it could again become the sole province of religious bodies. Of this view, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
wrote: "The Pepperdine idea puts into a play a new way of thinking — and whether it's part of the court's decision in the Prop 8 case or whether it makes its way into a new referendum, the idea of getting governments out of the marriage business offers a creative way of thinking about a problem that is otherwise likely to be around for a long, long time.
2008 U.S. presidential election and aftermath
Although he initially supported RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
, Kmiec "caused a stir" when he endorsed Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in the 2008 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
in a piece on Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
. As he explained in an interview with the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, "One of the things I kept discovering...was that Obama was sounding more Catholic than most Catholics I know." The issues that drew Kmiec's attention were wages, health care, and the cost of the Iraq War. To those fellow Catholics and pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
advocates who were surprised at his position, he argued that Obama's desire to "alleviate social conditions that correlate with abortion", such as poverty, was convincing. In the endorsement itself, Kmiec explained his disagreements with Obama, especially over the issue of abortion, but indicated that it was time to find common ground on this and other topics. Kmiec opened his piece by praising Obama's "integrity, intelligence, and genuine good will".
As a result of endorsing the pro-choice Obama, Kmiec was denied Communion in May 2008 at a Red Mass
Red Mass
A Red Mass is a Mass celebrated annually in the Catholic Church for judges, attorneys, law school professors, students, and government officials...
for Catholic business people in California. Kmiec confirmed the incident with Nina Totenberg
Nina Totenberg
Nina Totenberg is an American legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio focusing primarily on the activities and politics of the Supreme Court of the United States. Her reports air regularly on NPR's newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition...
, NPR's legal correspondent and E. J. Dionne of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
wrote a column noting how John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
and other Catholic public officials had been threatened with communion denial in 2004 because of their pro-choice position, but the first actual denial was experienced by Kmiec, a Catholic layman. After review, Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the...
called the action "shameful and indefensible" and asked the priest to write a letter of apology to Kmiec.
In the midst of the election, Kmiec proceeded to write Can A Catholic Support Him?: Asking the Big Question About Barack Obama (2008) to explain his support for Senator Obama in light of Catholic principles. The book's introduction was written by West Wing actor Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
. Sheen and Kmiec did a series of radio and video commentaries for the Matthew 25 network in support of Obama. Kmiec also campaigned for the candidate as part of his "Faith, Family and Values Tour".
Obama was invited to speak at Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
's commencement, which stirred controversy due to his pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
stance. Kmiec supported Obama speaking at the university and suggested to the administration that they use the speech as an opportunity to discuss the issues on which both sides of the abortion debate already agree: "we both respect life, we both view abortion as a moral tragedy".
After David Souter
David Souter
David Hackett Souter is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He served from 1990 until his retirement on June 29, 2009. Appointed by President George H. W. Bush to fill the seat vacated by William J...
retired from the Supreme Court, Kmiec authored a lead article in the National Catholic weekly, America
America (magazine)
America is a national weekly magazine published by the American Jesuits that contains news and opinion about Catholicism and how it relates to American politics and cultural life....
, making the case for "empathy" as a necessary value in the selection of a nominees for the high court.
U.S. Ambassador to Malta
On July 2, 2009, President Obama nominated Kmiec as Ambassador to MaltaMalta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. He was confirmed by the Senate. In April 2011, he was criticized by the Inspector General of the State Department for spending too much time on what the OIG reported as unofficial --i.e. religious-- duties, which Kmiec saw as integral to his ambassadorial role. Joshua DuBois, special assistant to the president for faith-based initiatives, described the Kmiec nomination and appointment in precisely these terms, however, referring to a mandate (seemingly not considered by the OIG) as "the special presidential logic" of the appointment and its core mission. By contrast, the Inspector General saw the religious writing as "not directly related to his mission," writes Tiffany Stanley of The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
. Continues Stanley: "in the annals of diplomatic misbehavior, Kmiec's is rather an unusual case. Even the critical OIG report notes that embassy morale was good, he was respected by the Maltese and his staff, and had 'achieved some policy successes'. The problem, it seems, was that Kmiec may have taken the job a little too seriously." Columnist Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times writes: "Over the last few years, Kmiec has emerged as one of this country's most important witnesses to the proposition that religious conviction and political civility need not be at odds; that reasonable people of determined good conscience, whatever their faith or lack thereof, can find ways to cooperate in the common good. Though Kmiec has not sought their intervention, the president and the secretary of State ought to deal with the bureaucrats seeking to silence a voice whose only offense is to speak in the vocabulary of our own better angels." Kmiec did not ask the president to intervene, but instead expressing his continued confidence in the president's leadership, resigned effective May 31, 2011.
See also
- Republican and conservative support for Barack Obama in 2008
- List of U.S. political appointments that crossed party lines