Questions are being raised over President Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers as Supreme Court Justice because of her lack of judicial experience and her close ties to the president. The 60-year-old Miers has been in Bush’s inner circle for a decade–first as his personal attorney in Texas, later as White House counsel. In the hours after Bush’s announcement, some of the strongest criticism of Miers came from conservatives. Weekly Standard editor William Kristol said he was “disappointed, depressed and demoralized” by the selection which he said hints of cronyism. Vice President Dick Cheney took to the conservative airwaves to make the case for Miers. On Sean Hannity’s radio show Cheney vowed that she would fit the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Legal Times described her as a “devout churchgoer.” She was raised Catholic but is now a member of a church whose ministers describes it as “conservative, Bible-based, evangelical.” Meanwhile Democrat Harry Reid, the Senate Minority Leader, appeared side-by-side with Miers and praised her qualifications. Last week during a conference call with bloggers, Reid reportedly announced that he had asked President Bush to consider Miers for the job. Miers has never served as judge and her stance on many pressing issues remains unknown. As president of the Texas State Bar she lead in an unsuccessful fight to get the American Bar Association to reconsider its pro-abortion rights stance. This marks the first time since 1971 that a President nominated someone without judicial experience to serve on the Supreme Court. If confirmed Miers will become the third ever female Justice. We’ll have more on her nomination in a few minutes.