Bush's Appellate Judges Could Tip Court Balances
The Wall St. Journal has an article (online for free) on an overlooked issue in the judicial nominations fight: Bush's picks could tip the balance in many circuits. To me, this is an additional reason the compromise being proposed by moderate Senators should fail. The Journal reports:
Janice Rogers Brown, for instance, has made scathing assessments about the reach of the federal government -- and she is nominated to the appellate court that handles the majority of appeals of government-agency rulings.
William Myers, who has advocated against environmental groups, is in line to join the appellate court that sorts through land-use battles.
William Pryor, who called a section of the Voting Rights Act "an expensive burden that has far outlived its usefulness" -- may be headed for an appellate court with jurisdiction over parts of the old Confederacy.
The compromise under consideration would result in an up or down vote on these three nominees - and possibly all 7 of the contested nominees - in order to preserve the right to filibuster "in extreme circumstances" through 2006. Since Republicans have a majority in the Senate, this means certain confirmation for these nominees.
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