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Bush Judicial Nominees Ask to Withdraw

The first good result from the November elections...

William Haynes, William G. Myers III and Terrence Boyle had all decided to abandon their quest for confirmation. Another nominee, Michael Wallace, let it be known last month that he, too, had asked Bush to withdraw his nomination.

Sen. Patrick Leahy says only consensus nominees have a chance of being confirmed.

Haynes is the Pentagon's top lawyer, and was an architect of the Bush's now-abandoned policy toward treatment of detainees in the war on terror. He had been tapped for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Boyle is a federal judge in North Carolina, and his appointment to the 4th Circuit provoked opposition from Democrats who cited his rulings in civil rights and disability cases, as well as his higher-than-average reversal rate by higher courts.

Myers, nominated to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sparked opposition from environmentalist organizations and their allies among Senate Democrats.

People for the American Way responds:

“The withdrawal of these nominees recognizes the political reality on Capitol Hill. Extreme, far-right nominees who are out of step with ordinary Americans simply will not be confirmed in the new Senate.

“The November elections showed that Americans are demanding a new way of doing business in Washington, and demanding bipartisan cooperation and consultation between the President and the Congress. The President now has a significant opportunity to change course on judicial nominations, consult with the new Congress and advance nominees who are within the mainstream of jurisprudence.

“We hope the President will take a bipartisan path. But if he does not, we will vigorously oppose any new efforts to pack the judiciary with ultraconservative nominees who would undermine our cherished rights and liberties.”

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  • Display: Sort:
    Yeah, but Kiesler's back (none / 0) (#1)
    by scribe on Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 05:04:51 PM EST
    and must be stopped, again.

    Here's the list of nominees, per the WH.  Among the odious are Peter Kiesler, profiled in this post, and Randy Smith of Idaho.  The latter, I believe was/is wingnut lobbyist for the extractive industries which make raping the Western environment a polite way of putting it.

    Excerpted from the earlier post, "Kiesler must be blocked" (which you should read, in detail!):
    Keisler is the archetypal stealth nominee.  No one, no f'g one, seems to be paying any attention to him.
    * * *
    Remember Bork?  Bork remembers Keisler, his former clerk.  About him, Bork says "he's one of my favorites".  He should.  Keisler helped shepherd Bork's nomination.  He's a Bork "acolyte."
    * * *
    And he helped shepherd nominations of Doug Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy, too.  Kennedy gave him a clerkship.
    * * *
    His resume
    1985 - 1986 The Honorable Robert H. Bork, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Law Clerk
    1986 - 1988 Executive Office of the President, Office of the Counsel to the President, Assistant Counsel (1986 - 1987), Associate Counsel to the President (1987 - 1988)

    1988 - 1989 The Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Supreme Court of the United States, Law Clerk

    Law School Roommate of one founders of the Federalist Society, and a force in it.

    But, he even has his own wiki page and, more importantly, his name on the wiki page "Bush Supreme Court candidates".

    But, more important, he argued, and lost, Hamdan before the Supreme Court. His fingerprints are all over the Bush/Cheney Torture and Surveillance policies.  And first received his nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court two weeks after losing Hamdan.  Just coincidentally, maybe, the same time as his adversary, Lt. Cmdr. Swift, was receiving his walking papers.

    These nominees must be stopped.

    I love these kinds of comments (none / 0) (#2)
    by scarshapedstar on Tue Jan 09, 2007 at 07:32:56 PM EST
    Rats. Ship.

    Sudden onset of reality I hope. n/t (none / 0) (#3)
    by JSN on Wed Jan 10, 2007 at 09:51:25 AM EST