Dear Editor: Lifetime Power Should Not Go to a Legal Novice

Dear Editor,

President Donald Trump wants to put Katie Lane, a Virginia attorney, on the United States District Court for the District of Montana.

Let's skip the polite fiction. She is not qualified.

This isn't about ideology. I practiced before conservative judges for decades. I respected them because they were prepared, disciplined, and deeply experienced. They understood judging because they first mastered trying cases.

That is the point. The U.S. District Court is not a debating club or a policy shop. It is the primary federal trial court - where witnesses testify, juries are instructed, a...