"President Bush today sent the Senate 30 nominations for lifetime positions on the federal district and circuit courts, including 14 candidates for crucial appeals court judgeships, as well as several other judicial nominations."

"Among the nominees are Charles Pickering and Priscilla Owen - both rejected last year by the Senate Judiciary Committee - and a number of other judges with troubling records on civil rights and other issues, some of whom are opposed by local, state and national civil rights, women's rights, and other organizations. Today's district and circuit court nominees had all been nominated for judgeships in the last Congress; new nominees are expected in the near future."

" "President Bush is choosing confrontation over consultation and cooperation when it comes to federal judges," said People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas. "For two years, he has steadfastly refused to engage in bipartisan dialogue about judicial nominees. Now that he has Republicans in control of the Senate, he's counting on a rubber stamp for his far-right nominees, even judges like Charles Pickering and Priscilla Owen, who were defeated after open hearings on their troubling public records."