Free Congress Foundation's Notable News Now Excerpts from FCF Programming and Other FCF Projects May 9, 2001 The Free Congress Commentary Left-wing Critics Should Practice What They Preach By Thomas L. Jipping President Bush will send his first judicial nominations to the Senate this week. Believe it or not, it looks like he is following the advice of some of his harshest left-wing critics. Before you get upset, let me tell you what that advice is. Nan Aron of the leftist Alliance for Justice wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1999 that the president "has a duty to fill judicial vacancies and appoint jurists who share his views." If only those same leftists would practice what they preach. The president's critics are doing more than their share of confirmation shape-shifting these days. Take the issue of judicial vacancies, which just topped 100 for only the second time since June 1994. Back in 1998, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin said 84 vacancies was a "nationwide crisis." In 1999, President Clinton called 65 vacancies "a mounting vacancy crisis." And in 2000, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said 75 vacancies "a dire shortage" of judges. Now those same Senators are part of the obstruction force. Senate Democrats have also changed their position on whether individual Senators should be able to veto nominations in their states. Though they demand a veto now, it was none other than Senator Edward Kennedy who ended this policy when he chaired the Judiciary Committee a quarter-century ago. Senator Joseph Biden also rejected a home-state veto when he chaired the committee, saying that if the White House consults with home state Senators, they will not be able to veto nominees. Now under President Bush, consultation includes rather than precludes a veto. Senate Democrats have also about-faced on using ideological litmus tests to reject nominees who fail to pledge how they will rule on certain issues. During the Clinton years, Senator Leahy was particularly adamant in opposing the litmus test. In July 1997, he said he hoped "no Senator is imposing an ideological litmus test on judicial nominations." In March 1998, he said imposing litmus tests on judicial nominees "must stop." And in October 1999, he said that "you cannot have a small clique decide they want to know exactly how judges are going to rule before they go on the bench, or they're not going to confirm them." Yet he and other Democrats have vowed to do just that now that President Bush is in office. So let's recap. Democrats rejected home-state vetoes when they ran the Senate but now demand them with Republicans in charge. Low vacancies under a Democrat president produced calls for faster confirmations, while high vacancies under a Republican president result in threats of obstruction. Even fundamental constitutional principles were not enough to hold up Democrat nominees; even a partisan perk justifies Democrats' shutdown threat. Litmus tests were taboo with a Democrat nominating judges; they are standard operating procedure with a Republican president sending up nominees. President Bush is following the advice of his left-wing critics; perhaps they should practice what they preach. Thomas L. Jipping is Vice-President for Legal Policy at the Free Congress Foundation. For media inquiries, contact Notra Trulock 202.546.3000 / [EMAIL PROTECTED] For other questions or comments, contact Angie Wheeler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Correction: In the May 8 edition of Notable News Now the following sentence should have been: Boston was going to scrap its 50-some year-old streetcars on the shuttle line at the Ashmont-Mattapan end of the Red Line subway. Coalition for Judicial Restraint To see the Coalition for Judicial Restraint weekly report contact John Nowacki at (e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Visit our website at http://www.FreeCongress.org
