There is only one solution to the vexing problem of Bush's far right nominations to the federal courts, according to law professors Erwin Chemerinsky and Catherine Fisk: use of the filibuster power.

Bush is intent on packing the lower federal courts with conservatives. It is likely that a few Supreme Court Justices will retire during his tenure.

"An enormous amount is at stake in the judicial confirmation process. A change in two votes on the Supreme Court could mean the overruling of Roe vs. Wade and a woman's right to reproductive choice. In the years ahead, federal courts will be deciding crucial questions concerning the federal government's power to provide remedies for civil rights violations, including employment discrimination based on race and gender.

"Also, the federal courts are the essential and only check against excessive government interference with individual rights in the name of the war against terrorism. Indeed, in every area of personal freedom, from freedom of speech to privacy, American law and policy will depend on the composition of the courts."

The judicial composition of the lower federal courts is similarly important. "Because the Supreme Court decides only about 75 cases a year, and hears fewer than 2% of the cases in which review is requested, who sits on the federal Court of Appeals is crucial."

Chemerinsky says that he was called by the Clinton White House Counsel and told he was a possible nominee for the federal Court of Appeals. Later he was told he could not be nominated because his liberal stands on affirmative action and reproductive freedom wouldn't fly in the Republican-controlled Senate.

"If outspoken liberals were unacceptable judicial nominees during the Clinton administration, then extreme conservatives are equally unsuitable now. Courageous Democrats in the Senate must announce their intent to use the filibuster to prevent a conservative takeover of the federal courts that could last long beyond our lifetimes."

To us, that's the scariest part. The legacy we will be leaving our children. We don't want our child to suffer at the hands of the radical right. We raised him to be appreciative of basic notions of fairness, equality, due process and individual liberties--we taught him that these are the rights that distinguish our nation and make it a beacon of liberty. Now at the hands of a president we didn't elect, the beacon is likely to be extinguished. So we echo Chemerinsky and Fisk, and call upon the Democrats in the Senate to filibuster until the cows come home, and preserve the integrity of our federal courts.