dajoga
01-21-2003, 11:57 AM
[ QUOTE ]
With President Bush's January 7 renomination of the 31 judicial candidates who failed to win confirmation during the last session of the Senate, the unprecedented battle for the federal courts that unfolded in that Democratic-controlled session began anew. Initial media reaction was political, focusing on the two candidates who were defeated in committee -- District Court Judge Charles W. Pickering Sr. and Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla R. Owen, both nominated for the Fifth Circuit. But the underlying issues run much deeper, going to the question whether we can any longer distinguish law from politics. Witness the threat by several Democrats, now in the minority, to filibuster nominees the Senate Judiciary Committee votes out who fail the "ideological litmus test" Democrats erected in the last session.
New York Sen. Charles Schumer has led the charge to insert ideology into the confirmation process. Writing in the New York Times just after Democrats took control of the Senate in 2001, he called explicitly for examining the ideology of judicial nominees to ensure that they reflect "the core values held by most of our country's citizens." Of particular concern to him were the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decisions "that constrain Congressional power."
[/ QUOTE ]
more here (http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-17-03.html)
With President Bush's January 7 renomination of the 31 judicial candidates who failed to win confirmation during the last session of the Senate, the unprecedented battle for the federal courts that unfolded in that Democratic-controlled session began anew. Initial media reaction was political, focusing on the two candidates who were defeated in committee -- District Court Judge Charles W. Pickering Sr. and Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla R. Owen, both nominated for the Fifth Circuit. But the underlying issues run much deeper, going to the question whether we can any longer distinguish law from politics. Witness the threat by several Democrats, now in the minority, to filibuster nominees the Senate Judiciary Committee votes out who fail the "ideological litmus test" Democrats erected in the last session.
New York Sen. Charles Schumer has led the charge to insert ideology into the confirmation process. Writing in the New York Times just after Democrats took control of the Senate in 2001, he called explicitly for examining the ideology of judicial nominees to ensure that they reflect "the core values held by most of our country's citizens." Of particular concern to him were the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decisions "that constrain Congressional power."
[/ QUOTE ]
more here (http://www.cato.org/dailys/01-17-03.html)