Some Clues to Miers' Views

With an even thinner paper trail than John Roberts', Harriet Miers has left both supporters and opponents guessing. To gauge her thinking on key legal issues, they are combing through everything from old bar-association newsletters to interviews with her fellow churchgoers. Here's a look at the scant evidence so far:

•ABORTION While president of the Texas Bar Association, Miers joined a debate in the early 1990s within the American Bar Association over whether the A.B.A. should take a stand on abortion. The group had gone from neutral to pro-choice and back again. Miers, joined by other Southern state bar associations, pushed the A.B.A. to remain neutral, but she never stated her underlying position on abortion.

•GAY RIGHTS During her 1989 run for a city council seat in Dallas, Miers answered questions from a gay-rights group that was deciding whom to support in the race. Miers wasn't seeking an endorsement, but she filled out the form anyway, replying that she supported full civil rights for homosexuals and increased funding for AIDS education but opposed repealing the state's sodomy law.

•CRIME AND PUNISHMENT The vast majority of Miers' corporate cases were resolved without litigation, so she has rarely seen the inside of a courtroom. She has expressed strong opinions, though, about the justice system, advocating the expansion of free legal aid and encouraging lawyers to do more pro bono work. In a 1993 A.B.A. Journal article, she called for more funding for the defense of death-row prisoners in Texas. Miers also served on the board of Exodus Ministries, a Christian group that helps former prisoners adjust to life outside prison.

•RELIGION Raised a Catholic, Miers joined the Valley View Christian Church, an evangelical congregation in suburban Dallas, in 1979. Nathan Hecht, a conservative Texas judge, introduced her to the church, which is unequivocal in its opposition to abortion and homosexuality. While Miers' faith could color her approach to issues ranging from school prayer to assisted suicide, Hecht and Valley View's minister say she would not necessarily back the church's positions in her rulings from the bench.