The Truth About George

The Courts

Bush's Extremist Judges Approved by Senate
Despite widespread opposition from civil and women's rights groups, the Senate approved Bush's appointment of three federal judges: Janice Rogers Brown and Thomas Griffith to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and William Pryor, Jr., to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Each judge has a record of hostility to women's rights. In the case of American Academy of Pediatrics v. Daniel E. Lundgren, Brown's dissenting opinion dismissed a minor's right to privacy by holding that a parental notification law should not be thrown out even though it violated California state law. Brown was also the lone dissenter in opining that a jury should not be allowed to hear evidence of Battered Women's Syndrome. William Pryor, who argued to overturn a key part of the Violence Against Women Act, has also called abortion "an abomination." Griffith has a record of hostility towards Title IX, the law guaranteeing equal educational opportunities for women and girls. When Griffith served on the administration's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics in 2003, he was clear in his opposition to equal opportunities for women in school athletics. Not only did he join a number of the stacked commission's recommendations to erode Title IX protections, but he actually proposed a change which was so extreme that even the anti-Title IX majority on the commission overwhelmingly rejected it.
Source: NOW Press Releases; People for the American Way; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights

Senate Approves Bush Appointment of Extremist Priscilla Owen
On May 25, Bush applauded the Senate's confirmation of Judge Priscilla R. Owen to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. "I urge the Senate to build on this progress and provide my judicial nominees the up-or-down votes they deserve," Bush said in a statement released by the White House. Although Senate Majority Leader Senator Bill Frist, R-Tenn., praised the confirmation as "a great victory for the American people," a poll issued last week by the Houston Bar Association reported that its members rated Owen as the worst of the six Texas Supreme Court justices. As a group of 19 Texas civil rights, women's rights, labor, consumer, and other organizations concluded, "Owen's rulings often favor the interest of corporate Texas or government at the expense of ordinary Texans." In fact, Owen's own hometown newspaper, the Austin-American Statesman, opposed her nomination in an editorial: "Owen is so conservative that she places herself out of the broad mainstream of jurisprudence."
Sources: New York Times, "After Four Years, Senate Votes to Confirm Owen for Federal Bench," David Stout, May 25, 2005; Washington Post, "Priscilla Owen Confirmed as Federal Judge," William Branigin, May 25, 2005; Houston Bar Association, "2005 Judicial Evaluation Poll Results"; Texas Ad Hoc Coalition on Judicial Nominees, "Texas Groups Announce Opposition to Owen Appointment to Federal Appeals Bench," July 15, 2002; Austin-American Statesman Editorial, Apr 29, 2003

Ultra-Conservative Judicial Nominee Janice Rogers Brown a Danger
President Bush's nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is yet another indication of the president's intention to pack the courts with right-wing conservatives. The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is widely regarded as the second most important court in America—a court that has produced more justices to the Supreme Court than any other circuit court. Brown, however, fails to meet even basic criteria for this position. The American Bar Association has given Brown its lowest possible passing grade—a "qualified/not qualified" rating. When Brown was nominated to the California Supreme Court, three-fourths of the California State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees rated her as "unqualified" for the position because of her lack of experience and her tendency to inject her own personal views into her judicial opinions. In her seven years on the California Supreme Court, Brown has demonstrated her extremely conservative views. She has a history of hostility toward affirmative action, abortion and birth control rights and government benefit programs and has been described as more conservative than Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Sources: AFL-CIO Editorial; Los Angeles Times, "Bar Faults High Court Nominee in Key Areas," Maura Dolan, April 26, 1996; National Organization for Women Action Alert, "Oppose Judicial Nominee Janice Brown and the Parade of Right-Wing Judges Before the Senate," October 27, 2003

Bush Prepares to Stack Supreme Court with Right-Wing Ideologues
The Bush administration has laid the groundwork to place more conservatives on the Supreme Court, scrutinizing the backgrounds and legal views of a list of candidates amid speculation that ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist soon will step down. Bush has suggested that he favors the views of Justices Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Both men believe the Constitution should be interpreted literally and that judges should not be swayed by changes in political or social culture since it was written. Women's rights activists are gearing up for a major fight if Bush nominates someone in the mold of Thomas and Scalia, or anyone who would tip the delicate balance on the court for decades to come.
Source: Capitol Hill Blue "White House Ready to Stack Court," Deb Reichmann, May 30, 2005

Bush Says 'Happy Valentine's Day' with a Dozen Dreadful Judicial Re-Nominees
Instead of a dozen roses, George W. Bush sent a handful of weeds to the Senate on Feb. 14 by re-nominating a dozen judges for approval. The judges include Priscilla Owen, who supports "stricter interpretation" of the laws that require girls younger than 18 to inform their parents before obtaining an abortion, and William H. Pryor, who has said that the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade was "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law."
Source: National Organization for Women, "Bush Says 'Happy Valentine's Day' with a Dozen Dreadful Judicial Re-Nominees," Feb. 15, 2005

Even Some Republicans Cannot Stomach Bush Judicial Nominee
The Hill reports that Senate Republicans are currently blocking one of Bush's judicial nominees. Leon Holmes, nominated to a seat on the U.S. District Court in Arkansas, has not been scheduled for a floor vote by Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) after being reported out of committee without recommendation. Holmes' judicial writings have provoked much controversy, including a comment relating to a rape exception for a constitutional amendment banning abortion. Holmes called the issue a "red herring," saying that "conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami." Beyond Frist's failure to schedule a vote, four Senate Republicans, Arlen Specter (Pa.), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Susan Collins (Maine), and Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas), have expressed serious doubts about Holmes. Find out what's at stake with our courts and read more about nominee Judge Leon Holmes.
Source: The Hill, "In Twist, GOP Blocks Bush Nominee," Nov. 19, 2003.

Bush Nominates Right-Wing Extremist to D.C. Circuit Court
On July 25, Bush nominated Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court, which handles many high-profile federal cases and is considered a steppingstone to the U.S. Supreme Court. Brown is seen as the most conservative justice on California's Supreme Court. In a joint report, People for the American Way (PFAW) and the NAACP reveal that Brown has a record of ideological extremism and judicial activism that makes her unfit to serve on the appeals court. Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington Bureau, expressed deep concern regarding Brown's "hostility to fundamental civil and constitutional rights principles." PFAW President Ralph G. Neas says Brown "embodies Clarence Thomas' ideological extremism and Antonin Scalia's abrasiveness and right-wing activism." Adding to these concerns, abortion-rights groups have pointed to Justice Brown's dissent in a California case in which she harshly criticized the other justices for overturning a law requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions.
Source: People for the American Way, "Far Right Dream Judge Janice Rogers Brown joins Lineup of Extremist Appeals Court Nominees," Aug 28, 2003.

William H. Pryor Jr.: Regarded As Most Controversial Nominee of Bush's Tenure
In nominating Alabama's attorney general, Bill Pryor, for a lifetime appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, Bush has selected what Senate aides from both parties are touting as the most controversial nominee of his presidency. As an outspoken conservative throughout his career, Pryor has as recently as 1997 berated the Supreme Court's decision to legalize abortion in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case. Additionally, Pryor vociferously objected to the repeal of the Texas sodomy law recently struck down by the Supreme Court, and remains a staunch opponent of the enforcement of the separation of church and state. Pryor is a firm supporter of capital punishment and has been criticized for his failure to attend to issues of discrimination and environmental protection.
Sources: Washington Post, "Judicial Nominee Admits Mistake: Pryor Regrets 'Octogenarian' Comment," Mike Allen, June 12, 2003; New York Times, "Senate Judicial Panel to Weigh Another Contentious Nomination," Neil A. Lewis, June 11, 2003

Bush Refuses Democrats' Offers to Consult on Potential Supreme Court Nominees
In recent letters, prominent Democrats have urged Bush to consult with them prior to nominating someone to the Supreme Court, should a vacancy open. In a response the Washington Post described as "curt," the Bush administration immediately rejected the suggestion because officials claimed, as the New York Times reported, "it would be highly inappropriate for a president to dilute his constitutional responsibility to choose Supreme Court nominees." In their letters, Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) argued that a nominee selected through consensus would be much less divisive, resulting in a much smoother confirmation process. They also noted that Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, reportedly suggested both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer to President Bill Clinton, both of whom Clinton selected to the high court. In a later response to Leahy and Daschle's letters, the White House counsel, Alberto R. Gonzalez, indicated he would be willing to meet with senators to hear their concerns. The Washington Post reports that Gonzalez's offer is complicated by the fact that as "a former justice of the Texas Supreme Court, (Gonzalez) is one of Bush's most obvious potential nominees."
Source: New York Times, "Vacancy or Not, Bracing for Supreme Court Fight," Neil A. Lewis & Sheryl Gay Stolberg, June 19, 2003; Washington Post, "Bush to Choose Ex-Starr Aide: Kavanaugh to Be Nominee For Appeals Court Post," Mike Allen, June 19, 2003.

Bush Judicial Nominee Called Gays "Queers"
Bush's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, Claude A. Allen, is on record as having referred derisively to gay people as "queers." At the time of the incident, Allen was press secretary for the re-election campaign of former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), one of the staunchest foes of gay rights in Congress. According to the Houston Voice, Allen, who is also a supporter of abstinence-only sex education, is Bush's eighth judicial nominee with known anti-gay views.
Source: The Houston Voice, "Bush Pick for Appeals Court Called Gays 'Queers'," Lou Chibbaro, Jr., May 2, 2003

Judicial Nominees: Charles Pickering and Priscilla Owen, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Nominations Resubmitted
Bush announced in early January that he is resubmitting the nomination of Judge Charles W. Pickering and Justice Priscilla Owen to the 5th Circuit Appeals Court. Pushed by Sen. Trent Lott, Pickering's initial nomination was rejected last March by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Like Lott, Pickering has a deplorable past on race issues, including writing an article as a law student suggesting ways to strengthen the state's anti-miscegenation laws; establishing contacts while a Mississippi state legislator with a commission established by the state to oppose integration efforts; and going to great lengths to try to secure a more lenient sentence for a defendant convicted of burning a cross on the lawn of an interracial couple. Bush also renominated Judge Priscilla Owen, a staunch opponent of women's reproductive rights, as well as a number of judges whose positions and opinions are so controversial that their nominations died in the last Congress.
Source: New York Times, "President Renominating Federal Judge Lott Backed," Neil A. Lewis, Jan. 7, 2003