conspiracy theory: Is Harriet Miers being set up?

Harriet Miers' questionaire returned to the Senate shows a gross misinterpretation of constitutional norms. Miers was asked on the questionaire she sent to the Senate to describe the constitutional issues she had worked on throughout her legal career. She pointed out an instance where the city was sued for violating the Voting Rights Act and said that the council "had to be sure to comply with the proportional representation requirement of the Equal Protection clause." This left many constitutional scholars mystified, however, since the Supreme Court has repeatedly said the guarantee of "equal protection of the law" in the Constitution does not require proportional representation in state legislatures or city councils of minority voters in the population. Full story.

Stanford law professor, Pamela Karlan, found it surprising that the White House did not check Miers' questionaire before it went to the Senate and questioned whether the White House might be setting Miers up for failure.