President Nixon appointed two without prior judicial experience on the same day: Chief Justice Rehnquist was in the DoJ Office of Legal Counsel when he was appointed Associate Justice on January 7, 1972, and he served until September 3, 2005.

Lewis Powell, appointed the same day, had no prior judicial experience. He served until June 26, 1987.

Abe Fortas, sworn in October 4, 1965, appointed by President Johnson, had no prior judicial experience. He was a lawyer in D.C. Before being appointed to the Court, Fortas was appointed by the Court to brief and argue Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), after Gideon's pro se cert. petition was granted. (He was pressured to resign because of "problems" with his personal finances, and Chief Justice Warren supposedly persuaded him to do so.)

Arthur Goldberg, sworn in October 10, 1962, appointed by President Johnson, had no prior judicial experience. He served until July 25, 1965. He was Secretary of Labor when appointed.

Bryon White, sworn in April 16, 1962, appointed by President Johnson was an Assistant U.S. Attorney General and had no prior judicial experience. He served until June 28, 1993.

Most important, at least to me, is Chief Justice Earl Warren, appointed by President Eisenhower and sworn in on August 5, 1953. He was Governor of California, and he had no prior judicial experience. I submit that he was appointed precisely because he was a politician, and he had the ability to achieve the consensus necessary to issue Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). Warren also wrote Gideon, New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964), Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333 (1966), Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967), and Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968). Warren served until June 23, 1969.

I'll just stop there. There are others before them as shown here.

Others had "minimal" appellate judicial experience, a relative term, including: John Marshall Harlan (the Second, 1965-71), over a year on the Second Circuit. He was a brilliant jurist. Also on that list would be Clarence Thomas who served a little over a year on the D.C. Circuit after coming from the EEOC. If "a short time" is "minimal," some might include Chief Justice Roberts with two years on the D.C. Circuit. Even Sandra Day O'Connor served four years as a trial judge and two years on the Arizona Court of Appeals. William Brennan had similar experience on the New Jersey Supreme Court, but a few years longer.

The real question should be: How much appellate experience does the nominee have as a lawyer, judge, or both. Harriet Miers, according to Westlaw, has argued three federal and four state appellate cases, and none in the Supreme Court. John Roberts, by contrast, argued at least 35 times in the Supreme Court. That is a test of his ability, whether you agree with his positions or not.

I've argued 35 times more appeals than Miers, and twice in the U.S. Supreme Court. But don't come calling, W, because I'd never be confirmed by anybody because I would answer the question about views on all the controversial issues. Besides, I wouldn't want the job, even if it does have a nice retirement package. I'm having far more fun being a criminal defense lawyer. That is my life's calling.