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])



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