Commentary Archive (108th Congress)
ABA
Retains Little Objectivity in Nomination Process
The
nations largest lawyers organization, the American Bar
Association, has played a prominent role in the confirmation of
federal judges for more than a half century. Since 1952, the ABAs
Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has examined and rated
the professional qualifications of potential federal judges before
the U.S. Senate considers them for confirmation...[more]
Conduct
Unbecoming a United States Senator
More
than forty years ago, it was simply "routine" when President
John F. Kennedy recess appointed 25 judges to the federal bench
in the span of a little more than a year. Amongst those judicial
recess appointees was Griffin B. Bell, a Georgian, who was selected
to serve as a circuit judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
5th Circuit, which was then responsible for cases in Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas...[more]
White
House, Daschle Strike Deal on Some Judicial Confirmations
After
nearly two months of negotiation, the White House and Senate Democrats
reached an agreement this week that will enable some of President
Bushs judicial nominees to get up or down votes on the Senate
floor...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: Standoff at the Civil Rights Commission
The
United States Commission on Civil Rights did not meet on May 17,
the date marking the 50th Anniversary of the unanimous
Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that mandated
integration of Americas public schools...[more]
Is
the Constitutional Option Viable to Break Partisan Filibusters
Against Judicial Nominees?
Never before
in our nations history has a judicial nomination to a federal
appeals court been defeated by a filibuster, a parliamentary tactic
that requires 60 affirmative votes rather than a simple majority
for confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Never, that is, until now...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: Quiet Waters Run Quietly
There
will be times like this; there are for any scandal. Nothing seems
to be happening. Those who believe that investigations must move
forward with all due speed and diligence become frustrated, not
a unique emotion even for routine expectations of government, but
palpable when wrongs must be righted...[more]
The
Kerry-Kennedy Court: Tribe and Tested
Nine
seats have been occupied for nearly a decade now. But sometime after
January 20th, several seats on the Supreme Court will surely become
vacant. The list of possible retirements that could occur during
the next four years is long by Supreme Court standards, and includes
a majority of the current Court. Based on age alone, there are four
likely departures, all of whom are in their 70s or 80s: Chief
Justice William Rehnquist, 79, and Justices John Paul Stevens, 84,
Sandra Day OConnor, 74, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 71. Add to
that list Justice Antonin Scalia, who many commentators believe
is frustrated with the cloistered nature of Supreme Court life,
and the distinct possibility exists that five justices will hang
up their robes during the next presidential term...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: Chasing the Red Herring
U.S.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have gotten their way. On Monday,
the Justice Department announced a criminal investigation into the
downloading and leaking of Democrat memos that discuss the strategy
and tactics of opposing President Bushs nominees to the federal
bench...[more]
Center
Files Senate Ethics Complaint Against Senator Kennedy and His Former
Aides Johnson and Barnes
The
Center for Individual Freedom today filed a complaint with the Senate
Select Committee on Ethics against Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
and two of his former aides, Olati Johnson and Melody Barnes...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: As the Wagons Circle
On
April 19, Jonathan Groner published a brief piece in Legal Times.
The lead sentence read: "The Virginia State Bar has rejected
an ethics complaint filed last December against Elaine Jones, president
of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund."...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: In the Eye of the Scandal
After
months of frustration that neither the press nor the government
are doing their respective jobs with regard to the smoldering U.S.
Senate scandal that has come to be called Memogate, the Center for
Individual Freedom provided some missing journalism...[more]
CFIF
Files Ethics Complaint Against Olati Johnson
The
Center for Individual Freedom today filed an ethics complaint with
the First Departmental Disciplinary Committee in New York against
Olati Johnson, the former aide to Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)
who wrote the April 17, 2002, memo urging the Senator to delay consideration
of a judicial nominee in order to manipulate and influence the outcome
of the University of Michigan affirmative action cases then pending
before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit...[more]
CFIF
Urges Kerry-Kennedy Presidential Campaign to Come Clean
on Plot to Manipulate Michigan Affirmative Action Case
In
a letter to presidential candidate John Kerry (linked below), the
Center for Individual Freedom today urged him to immediately come
clean on Mary Beth Cahills (his campaign manager) involvement
in the plot to manipulate the outcome of the University of Michigan
affirmative action cases then pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 6th Circuit...[more]
Letter
to Kerry calls for acknowledgment of possible criminal action by
his campaign manager
In
a letter to presidential candidate John Kerry, the Center for Individual
Freedom asks that Kerry condemn his campaign manager's roll in memogate...[more]
Former
NAACP Attorney Olati Johnson
Wrote Controversial Staff Memo to Senator Kennedy
The Center
for Individual Freedom has learned the identities of two former
aides to U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) who, in a memo
dated April 17, 2002, recommended that the Senator delay confirmation
proceedings of Judge Julia Smith Gibbons to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 6th Circuit. The purpose of the delay was to influence the
outcome of the University of Michigan affirmative action cases,
then pending before that court...[more]
Nearly
4,000 Americans Urge Senator Kennedy to Come Clean on Memogate
The Center
for Individual Freedom today delivered a petition signed by nearly
4,000 people from across the country to Senator Edward Kennedy demanding
to know whether he obstructed justice in the University of Michigan
affirmative action cases when they were pending before the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit...[more]
Judge
Pickering Speaks Out
As a part
of their campaign to obstruct President Bushs judicial nominees,
Senate Democrats, led by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), and outside
special interest groups, tried to brand Judge Charles Pickering
a racist. In an extraordinary interview with CBSs 60 Minutes
broadcast March 28, Judge Pickering rebutted those charges...[more]
CFIF
Unveils Memogate Lineup Ad
The
Center for Individual Freedom today unveiled the second in its series
of ads on Memogate. In
the ad, which features a "lineup" of Senators Patrick
Leahy (D-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), who
are at the heart of the controversy, the Center calls on Democrats
and Republicans alike to stop ignoring the content of the memos
and calls for a full investigation...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: Kennedy Stonewalling
On March
19, Charles Hurt of The Washington Times produced one of those enterprising
news stories that restore credit to an increasingly lazy profession.
Hurt asked a group of prominent law professors about the now-notorious
staff memo written to Senator Ted Kennedy. That would be the memo
recommending that Senator Kennedy fulfill a request from Elaine
Jones of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to stall the confirmation
of judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit until
after the University of Michigan affirmative action case was decided
by that court...[more]
CFIF
Launches Ad Campaign Questioning Senator Kennedy on Obstruction
of Justice
The
Center for Individual Freedom today launched the first
in a series of ads questioning U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
on whether or not he "obstructed justice" in the University
of Michigan affirmative action cases then-pending before the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: The Gang That Cant Shoot Straight
Just when
we thought members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
Republicans and Democrats alike couldnt possibly shame
themselves or the Senate any more, they did. Several times. With
no end in sight. Shame, as a public function, is limited by the
number of people paying attention, currently few. Shame also requires
susceptibility to such emotion, not currently evident in the Judiciary
Committee. Thats expected through the initial stonewall phase.
Media and public attention on most government scandals starts haltingly
and builds slowly, as more and more dots are connected, usually
by journalists with the noses of truffle pigs, also currently in
short supply...[more]
Center
Urges Attorney General Ashcroft to Investigate Content of Judiciary
Memoranda
In a
letter to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the Center
for Individual Freedom today asked that any criminal probe into
how some Judiciary Democrats collusion memoranda regarding
judicial confirmations were obtained and "leaked" include
a thorough examination of the memos content and a complete
investigation into the unethical and potential illegal conduct they
may evidence...[more]
Memogate
Timeline
For
several months, Senate action on President Bushs judicial
nominees has ground to a halt as the Judiciary Committee and its
members have been consumed with what has become popularly known
as "Memogate." The term refers to reportedly more than
4,000 memoranda to and from Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary
Committee that outline troubling collusion between liberal special
interest groups and Committee Democrats to obstruct the confirmation
of many of the Presidents judicial nominees...[more]
Center
Renews Call for Immediate Investigation Into Content of Judiciary
Memoranda
As Senate
Sergeant-at-Arms William Pickle prepares to release the results
of his investigation into how Judiciary Democrats memoranda
were obtained and made public, the Center for Individual Freedom
today renewed its calls for a full investigation into the corruption
and potential criminal wrongdoing outlined in the contents of the
memos...[more]
Appoint
Them All, Mr. President
For
three years, the President of the United States did the right thing
with regard to judicial appointments. He looked at judicial vacancies
throughout the federal courts, at both district and appellate levels.
He found people of impressive credentials he believed would interpret
the laws of the land, not make new law, and not act as entrepreneurs
of radical views. He nominated them, according to constitutional
procedure...[more]
Democrat
Memogate: The Beginning of Political Scandal
As
political scandals go, the case of the U.S. Senate Democrat memos
is difficult to assess thoroughly, for the moment. The evidence
is currently under lock and key by the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.
That evidence consists of some three to four thousand memos from
or to Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, believed
to detail collusion between Democrats and leftist groups to block
confirmation of many of President Bushs judicial nominees...[more]
Center
Calls for Justice Department Investigation
The
Center for Individual Freedom joined over two dozen organizations
this week in asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate
whether Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee or
their staffs exchanged efforts to obstruct the confirmation of President
Bushs judicial nominees for campaign contributions and support...[more]
Black
and White in the Gray Lady
It
goes without saying that the mantra of The New York Times Editorial
Pages is "All the Leftist Propaganda Thats Fit to Print."
But sometimes the newspapers transparent knee-jerk liberalism
shocks even us. Take, for example, the Gray Ladys political
hypocrisy when it comes to appointment of federal judges...[more]
Center
Urges Senator Kennedy to 'Do the Right Thing' With Regard to Incriminating
Judicial Memos
In a letter reproduced here, the Center for Individual Freedom
urges Senator Kennedy to immediately release the names of all staffers
named in the April 17, 2002, memorandum, including its author; disclose
all information on activities and decisions resulting from the April
phone call and memorandum; and recuse [himself] from all Senate
deliberations and votes on judicial nominees until a full investigation,
including a pending ethics complaint filed against you, is completed...[more]
Grievance
Filed With Virginia State Bar Against NAACP Official
The Center
for Individual Freedom today was joined by several national grassroots
organizations in filing a grievance with the Virginia State Bar
calling for a full investigation and for appropriate action to be
taken against Elaine R. Jones, President and Director-Counsel of
the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc...[more]
Senator
Kennedy and the Other N-Word
When
Senator Kennedy used that other N-Word last week, he did not specify
to whom he was referring. He didnt have to. The targets of
his pejorative are those nominees for the federal bench whose confirmations
are being and will be blocked by Senator Kennedy and others at the
behest of the organized left...[more]
CFIF
Exposes 44 U.S. Senators as Enemies of Justice Releases
Judicial Nominations Scorecard
As
partisan animus continues to infect the judicial confirmation process
in the U.S. Senate, the Center for Individual Freedom today released
a judicial nominations scorecard for the first session of the 108th
Congress...[more]
Judicial
Nominations Scorecard
Escalating
partisan animus continues to infect the judicial confirmation
process in the 108th Congress. A minority of U.S. Senators have
chosen to obstruct justice and to abandon their responsibility
to the American people by refusing simple up or down votes on
President Bushs nominees. Click
here, to download the scorecard detailing this year's Senate
votes that would have ended the partisan filibusters now blocking
five of President Bushs nominees and that has caused one
to withdraw his nomination.
Filibusters
and the Constitution
The
current "wrangling" in the Senate over President George
W. Bushs judicial nominations "has constitutional dimensions,
raising important questions about the Senates role in the
judicial confirmation process under the Advice and Consent Clause,"
according to a new white paper authored by four attorneys, including
the Center for Individual Freedoms Assistant General Counsel,
Reid Alan Cox, and published by the Federalist Society for Law and
Public Policy Studies...[more]
Boxer
Breaks a Promise: The Expected Filibuster of 9th Circuit Nominee
Carolyn Kuhl Perpetuates a Partisan Temper Tantrum
By
Congressman Darrell Issa: Earlier this year, during the
confirmation process of Federal Appeals Court nominee Miguel Estrada,
Sen. Barbara Boxer made a promise. Boxer said that while she supported
the filibuster of Miguel Estrada she would not use the filibuster
to block the President's nominees if they would simply answer the
Senate's questions...[more]
Wanted:
A Mute to Serve on the D.C. Circuit
Looking
for a new job? Perhaps you should watch the classified advertisements
for an employment opportunity to serve as judge on one of our Nations
most influential courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
Circuit. After all, the classifieds appear to be the only place
left where President Bush can search for a nominee who meets the
criteria of those Senators filibustering multiple judicial nominations.
Candidates who have any personal opinions espoused in a speech or
included in an article simply need not apply...[more]
The
Nuclear Option
Its
been more than a quarter century since a simple majority of the
U.S. Senate has employed a parliamentary procedure ominously known
as the "nuclear option" to effect a change in the bodys
Standing Rules. Back then, in 1975, it was a bare Democratic majority
that mustered the will to force a change in Rule XXII, the "cloture
rule," decreasing the number of votes required to break a filibuster
from two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes, to the current level
of three-fifths of the body, or 60 votes...[more]
Setting
the Record Straight on Judge Pickering
By Senator
Orrin G. Hatch: In 1962, the Governor of Mississippi
violated an order of the United States Supreme Court and personally
barred James Meredith, a black student, from enrolling at the University
of Mississippi. It took hundreds of United States Marshals
and National Guard soldiers, acting under the direction of President
Kennedy, to ensure his enrollment. Wide-scale rioting ensued.
Dozens of U.S. Marshals were shot; hundreds of people were injured;
two men were killed. This is the Mississippi that still existed
when Judge Charles Pickering sent his young children to newly integrated
public schools in Jones County, Mississippi, in the 1960s...[more]
Center
Denounces Democrat Obstructionism as Setting a Dangerous Precedent
and Making a Mockery of Judicial Confirmation Proces
As a result
of Miguel Estradas decision to withdraw his nomination to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the Center for Individual
Freedom today lambasted Senate Democrats for their obstructionist
tactics which have eroded the principle of separation of powers
outlined in the U.S. Constitution and torpedoed the independence
of our federal judiciary...[more]
Counting
the Cloture Votes: Analyzing Senators Support for Judicial Nomination
Filibusters
By
Thomas L. Jipping: In the days prior to adjourning for
its August 2003 recess, the U.S. Senate voted against ending debate
on three nominations to the U.S. Courts of Appeal. Some say these
filibusters, and the others said to be coming in the months ahead,
are part of an unprecedented Democrat-led obstruction campaign.
But Democrats say Republicans have done the same thing in the past.
These competing claims, and the certainty that efforts to end judicial
nomination filibusters will continue when the Senate returns in
September, make this a good time objectively to examine the historical
record.
To
read more, visit the Center
for Individual Freedom Foundation.
Center
Applauds Judiciary Chairman for Squashing Sour Grapes Politics on
Sixth Circuit Judicial Nominees
The Center
for Individual Freedom today applauded Senate Judiciary Chairman
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) for holding a hearing on the confirmation of
Henry Saad, a Michigan Court of Appeals judge who is one of President
George W. Bush's nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth
Circuit...[more]
Judicial
Nominees: Levin, Stabenow must help end deadlock; it clogs up courts
By Michigan
Attorney General Mike Cox: "He broke it." "No,
she did." "But he started it." Is this the typical "conversation"
I hear every night when I get home to my three youngest kids? Nope.
Unfortunately, this is the essence of the debate that the U. S.
Senate, including our own U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow,
is having over blocking a vote on President George W. Bush's judicial
nominees to the federal court of appeals...[more]
The
New Glass Ceiling
Stellar
credentials and a "well-qualified" rating from the American Bar
Association, its highest, following her nomination to the U.S. 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals should have made the road to confirmation
an easy one for Judge Carolyn Kuhl...[more]
True
Legal Reform Begins With Judicial Reform
Progressively,
for several decades, opportunistic plaintiffs' attorneys, motivated
more by personal profit than any quest for justice, have hijacked
the federal courts by filing case after case in search of the next
big payday. From automobiles to fast food as their latest
targets, trial lawyers are not only getting more inventive with
their legal contortions, but they are also pressing more of them
with unwavering relentlessness and baffling success. Left
in the wake is a judiciary stretched far beyond its limits and a
legal system desperate for reform.
To
read more, visit the Center
for Individual Freedom Foundation.
Estrada's
Answers are Consistent with Judges who Sailed through Senate
Confirmation
Filibustering
Senators insist that circuit court nominee Miguel Estrada is not
entitled to a constitutionally mandated yea-or-nay vote by the full
Senate because of a failure to "complete his job application."
Specifically, they object to Mr. Estrada's alleged "refusal" to
answer questions at his Judiciary Committee hearing and the Administration's
refusal to release privileged documents and memoranda produced by
Mr. Estrada when he worked as the Assistant to the Solicitor General.
But as detailed in an analysis prepared by the Center for Individual
Freedom Foundation, Senate Democrats have no historical support
for their asserted rationale in "Borking" Mr. Estrada's confirmation.
In fact, an examination and comparison of Mr. Estrada's current
confirmation proceedings with those of Supreme Court Associate Justice
Stephen Breyer establishes that Mr. Estrada has been as, if not
more, forthright with information about himself and his views as
then-Judge Breyer, who was easily confirmed by a vote of 87-9 in
1994.
To
download the Center for Individual Freedom Foundation's complete
analysis, click here.
Civil
rights guardian, outstanding nominee
By
Willie J. Huntley, Jr. (Courtesy of the Mobile Register 2003 © All
rkghts reserved. Reprinted with permission.) The Washington-headquartered,
liberal witch-hunt against President Bush's federal judicial nominees
has targeted its next victim, and it is one of our own: Bill Pryor,
the attorney general of Alabama...[more]
Meet
the Press Highlights Center's
Ad Against Daschle's Hypocrisy on Judicial Nominations
Displaying
the Center for Individual Freedom's "Hypocrite"
ad (The Washington Times, May 9, 2003), Tim Russert on this
week's Meet
the Press asked Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle why he
was acting against his own words in leading simultaneous filibusters
against circuit court nominees Miguel Estrada and Priscilla Owen...[more]
Fixing
a Broken Confirmation Process:
Ending Permanent Judicial Nominee Filibusters
By Thomas
L. Jipping, J.D. The Center for Individual Freedom joined
Concerned Women for America and more than 30 other organizations
in submitting this report to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on the
Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights following Chairman
John Cornyn's (R-TX) hearing: "Judicial Nominations, Filibusters,
and the Constitution: When a Majority is Denied Its Right to Consent."
To read the
report, click
here
CFIF
Exposes Senator Tom Daschle's Hypocrisy on Judicial Nominations
Today, the
two-year anniversary of President George W. Bushs initial
nominations to the federal circuit courts of appeal, the Center
for Individual Freedom ran an ad in The Washington Times labeling
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle a hypocrite for his partys
ongoing obstructionism against the Presidents judicial nominees.
[more]
To view a copy of the Center's ad, click
here.
If
Our Ad Speaks for You, Please Help Us Buy More
The Center's
activism for judicial reform is driven by ample evidence that liberal
judicial activism is steadily eroding our constitutional foundation.
Hard-hitting
ads like the one above are costly - as are litigation, grassroots
efforts and research. We are confronted by adversaries who are
funded by million-dollar contributions from left-wing special interest
groups and Hollywood activists, and their war chest is formidable.
We are a
non-profit corporation, and our funding comes from those who share
our commitment to preserving the freedoms and rights embodied in
the U.S. Constitution, without which there is little meaning for
democracy.
We can stop
the judicial activism, end the partisan bickering and restore the
constitutional integrity of the confirmation process.
But not without
your help.
Please make
a generous contribution to the Center for Individual Freedom today.
To contribute to the Center, click here.
Thank you.
Extra!
Extra!
U.S. Senate Confirms (One) Judicial Nominee,
Begins Filibuster Against Another and Continues Obstructionism Against
Miguel Estrada
As the obstructionist
filibuster against D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Miguel
Estrada continues -- and another begins against Fifth Circuit nominee
Priscilla Owen -- the United States Senate this week confirmed,
by a vote of 52 to 41, the nomination og Jeffrey Sutton to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. While Sutton's confirmation
is a step in the right direction, a simple comparison of the three
nominees' experience and situation further begs the question of
why a majority of Senate Democrats will not allow the nominations
of Miguel Estrada and Priscilla Owen to proceed to an up-or-down
vote by the full Senate, as prescribed by the U.S. Constitution...[more]
Senate
Math 41 Is Greater Than 59!
By
U.S. Senator Zell Miller: A portly British statesman
once famously said that "Democracy is based on reason and fair
play." But there's nothing reasonable or fair about what's
been happening in the Senate recently. The filibuster against Bush-nominee
Miguel Estrada is not just an expensive waste of time and taxpayer
money, it's also an affront to majority rule, the principle that
Democracy operates on everywhere. Everywhere, that is, but the Senate,,,[more]
CFIF Launches Ad Campaign
Against Senator Mary Landrieu for Flip-Flop on Miguel Estrada
The
Center has launched a Spanish radio ad campaign in Louisiana to
insist that Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) keep her campaign promise
to her Honduran constituents...[more]
CFIF
Sr. Vice President of Legislative Affairs Jeffrey Mazzella Hosts
Live Online Session on Washingtonpost.com
On
March 6, the Center's Jeffrey Mazzella was the host of a Washington
Post online discussion regarding the ongoing battle over the nomination
of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
To read the full transcript, click
here.
The
Filibuster of Miguel Estrada
Miguel
Estrada's
American Dream did not end yesterday. It was, however, once again
stalled by 44 Democrats who refuse to end their unprecedented and
unconscionable filibuster of Estrada's nomination to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit...[more]
Miguel
Estrada: What the Nation's Editorial Pages Are Saying
Senate
Democrats continue to lead a filibuster against the nomination of
Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
The obstructionist maneuver is now in its third week, with no discernable
end in sight. While the Senate is playing politics as usual, it
is clear the American people are fed up with the obstructionism.
And since Mr. Estrada's nomination was voted out of committee on
January 30, the nation's editorial pages (not traditionally bastions
of "right-wing ideologue" thought) have weighed in on the battle.
To
download more, click here.
Center
Urges Senator Landrieu to Stand By Her Campaign Commitment On Estrada
In a letter
sent to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the Center urged that she
stand by a campaign commitment she made to tens of thousands of
Spanish-speaking Louisianans on the nomination of Miguel Estrada
to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
To read the letter, click here.
The
Landrieu Response
Responding
to charges of flip-flopping on her support for Miguel Estrada,
Senator Landrieu issued the following response. Since it is written
in political weasel speech, we have taken the liberty of interspersing
some comments. To read Landrieu's response, click here.
Dear
Senators, It's "Advise and Consent," Not "Obstruct
and Delay"
Center Urges
Unobstructed Floor Vote on Miguel Estrada. As the full Senate
considers the confirmation of Miguel Estrada to the D.C. Circuit
Court of Appeals, the Center for Individual Freedom today reminded
all 100 Senators of their constitutional responsibility to the judicial
confirmation process...[more]
The
federal judiciary is mired in a crisis. Dockets are overloaded
and longstanding vacancies at district and circuit court levels
are going unfilled...[more]
Center
to Senate Judiciary Committee: Send Miguel Estrada to the Senate
Floor
The Center
for Individual Freedom today urged the members of the Senate Judiciary
Committee to send the confirmation of Miguel Estrada, one of President
George W. Bush's nominees to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals,
to the chamber floor for an up-or-down vote by all 100 Senators.
Estrada is slated to be the first Hispanic ever to serve on the
D.C. Court of Appeals...[more]
"Beating
a Dead Horse"
Chief
Justice William Rehnquist kicked off the New Year with a familiar
mantra, pleading with Congress to help extricate the federal judiciary
from its current crisis of overcrowded dockets, too few judges and
inadequate resources. "The 2002 Year-End Report on the Federal
Judiciary is my 17th," Rehnquist wrote. "As I look back on these
reports, I am struck by the number of issues that seem regularly
to crop up, or perhaps never go away - judicial vacancies, the need
for additional judgeships, judges' salaries, judicial appropriations."...[more]
Center
to Chairman Patrick Leahy:
Adopt
President's Plan to Speed Judicial Confirmations
On October
31, the Center for Individual Freedom sent a letter to Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) urging him to support President
Bush's recent nonpartisan proposal to streamline and expedite the
judicial nomination and confirmation process.
To read the
Center's letter, click here.
To
subscribe to our e-mail list for periodic updates on
important litigation and legislation affecting your individual
freedoms, click here.
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