• He sent a former publicist for the National Baptist Convention USA back to prison for nine months for violating the terms of her probation. The reason: she had forged the signature of a church minister and made a false statement on a lease application for an apartment. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 29, 2002

• In a religious investment scam case, he sentenced Greater Ministries Founder Gerald Payne to 27 years in prison and called him him a "wolf in sheep's clothing." St. Petersburg Times, August 13, 2001.

• He upheld Florida's law prohibiting interstate shipment of wine from out of state to Florida consumers. The state had argued the law, which is a felony, is "justified because they address a "threat to the public health, safety, and welfare; to state revenue collections; and to the economy of the state." Broward Daily Business Review, July 30, 2001.

On the other side: He did rule against the State of Florida and Jeb Bush when he "blocked the state from forcing 249 poor people out of three nursing homes owned by Vencor Inc." He held a hearing to determine if Gov. Jeb Bush "overstepped his authority in cutting off Medicaid funding to the three homes, along with three others." "It is not acceptable to me that anyone, especially the most defenseless among us, should be forced to endure consistently poor living conditions." St. Petersburg Times, October 16, 2000.

In that case, he issued an emergency temporary restraining order prohihibiting "curtailment of Medicaid funds at three Vencor facilities and halting "state efforts to relocate 249 Medicaid patients from the three nursing homes." St. Petersburg Times, October 11, 2000.

He was nominated and confirmed with bipartisan support.

• He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on May 25, 2000. St. Petersburg Times, May 25, 2000.

The Senate Wednesday unanimously confirmed James D. Whittemore, a circuit judge from Hillsborough County, to serve as a judge on the federal bench in the Middle District of Florida. Although Democrats have long complained that Republicans intentionally stalled many of President Clinton's judicial nominations for political reasons, Whittemore did not have much of a wait. He was nominated in October 1999 after Florida Sens. Bob Graham, a Democrat, and Connie Mack, a Republican, recommended him.

Whittemore, 47, has been a judge in the 13th Circuit in Hillsborough County since 1990. He was named Jurist of the Year by the Hillsborough County Bar Association in 1998. Whittemore, of Temple Terrace, received his law degree from Stetson University in 1977. A former private attorney and public defender, he will replace retiring judge Terrell Hodges on the Middle District bench.

Before that,

• Whittemore received a bachelor's degree with honors in business administration from the University of Florida in 1974. Tampa Tribune (Florida) May 25, 2000.

• A press release from the day of his nomination says (M2 PRESSWIRE October 21, 1999):

James D. Whittemore, of Temple Terrace, Florida, has served as a Circuit Court Judge on the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court for Hillsborough County, Florida since 1990. Prior to his appointment to the court, Whittemore was a sole practitioner in Tampa from 1987 to 1990; an associate at Whittemore & Campbell, P.A. from 1982 to 1987; and an associate at Whittemore & Seybold, P.A. from 1981 to 1982. He also served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Office of Federal Public Defender from 1978 to 1981 and as a law clerk and associate at Bauer, Morlan & Wells, P.A. in 1977. Whittemore received his B.S. in Business Administration, with honors, from the University of Florida in 1974 and his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 1977.

That sums up the press on his federal court decisions for the past 5 years. It seems to me that any attempt to cast him as an activist or liberal Judge will fail.

Update: The groundless smears from the churchfolk and anti-choicers and columnists begin. And [Via Balloon Juice.]