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Feminist Court Watch
Bush's Judicial Nominations: Stacking the Courts
 President
Bush has stated that he will nominate "strict constructionists" to
fill vacancies in the federal courts, and that, in his view, "Roe
v. Wade was a reach that overstepped the Constitutional bounds." Bush
has said that he would model his judicial appointments after
Justices Scalia and Thomas,
the two most ardent anti-choice votes on the Supreme Court. There
are 167 judges occupying lifetime positions in the 12 Circuit
Courts. Bush is seeking to stack the courts with far right
ideologues by nominating staunchly conservative, anti-abortion,
anti-women's rights judges to fill federal
court vacancies.
As of June 25, 2005, President Bush has 5 nominations
pending and 8 confirmations to
the Circuit Courts of Appeals, the court level just below the Supreme
Court. At least 10 of the 15 appellate nominations receive negative
ratings based
on their views on abortion rights and access and/or civil rights
for minorities and women. Bush is stacking the federal courts with
conservative, anti-choice judges. Already, 214 of
Bush's federal court nominees on both the district and circuit
court levels have been confirmed.
In addition, one of Bush's nominees, who was confirmed to the federal district court level, J. Leon Holmes, is so particularly egregious we came out in opposition to his nomination.
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Worst
of Bush's Pending Nominations
|
| Name |
Circuit |
State |
Abortion
Rights/Civil Rights/
Women's Rights |
Overall |
| Claude
A. Allen |
4th |
VA |
▪Feminist Victory! 12/8/05 Nomination Expired
▪Jan 16, 2005 Appointed Bush's Domestic Policy Advisor.
▪ Opposes a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion.
▪ Supported restrictions on abortion rights including
waiting periods and requirements for biased information.
▪ Helped draft Virginia’s parental notification
law and vocal supporter of abstinence-only sex education
programs.
▪ Served as board director of an organization
that opposes litigation including divorce and suits
by children who have been sexually abused by members
of the clergy.
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign
|
|
| Terrence
Boyle |
4th |
NC |
▪6/15/05 Voted out of Judiciary Committee by 10-8 party line vote
▪February 14, 2005 Bush Renominates Boyle
▪ December 23, 2004 Bush Announces He Will Renominate Boyle
▪ Ruled for whites and against African Americans in two voting rights cases-reversed both times
▪ Ruled against women in a Title VII sex discrimination
case-reversed
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
|
| Janice
Rogers Brown |
DC |
DC |
▪6/8/05 Confirmed by Senate
▪February 14, 2005 Bush Renominates Brown
▪ December 23, 2004 Bush Announces He Will Renominate Brown
▪ Feminist Victory! 11/14/03 Senate Democrats Block Brown's Nomination
▪ In her public speeches, bitterly critizes the legal theory that underlies the right to privacy, abortion, and access to birth control.
▪ Voted to protect racist speech in the work place
under the First Amendment.
▪ Interpreted California's proposition 209 to
include a ban on outreach to women and minorities.
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
|
| Miguel
Estrada |
DC |
DC |
Feminist Victory!
9/4/03 Estrada
Withdraws His Nomination
▪ Has not demonstrated a commitment to women's
rights or civil rights.
▪ Refused to answer questions about his position
on abortion rights or basic civil rights. |
|
| D.
Michael Fisher |
3rd |
PA |
▪12/9/04 Confirmed by Senate
▪ Disagrees with
modern legal theory that underlies the right to privacy,
abortion, and access to birth control
▪ Voted in favor of California's parental notification
law
▪ Voted to protect racist speech in the work place
under the First Amendment
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
|
Thomas B. Griffith
|
DC |
DC |
▪6/14/05 Confirmed by Senate
▪ February 14, 2005 Bush Renominates Griffith
▪ December 23, 2004 Bush Announces He Will Renominate Griffith
▪ Record of hostility to key components of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.
▪ Proposed elimination of critical "substantial proportionality" test for compliance which is one of three ways to determine whether schools provide female and male students with equal opportunities to participate in athletics.
▪ Let Washington, DC law license lapse, and has been pratising law in Utah for past four years without a license.
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign
|
|
| J. Leon Holmes |
Not applicable:
US District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas |
(AR) |
7/6/04 Senate Confirms Holmes
▪ Believes Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decided wrongly.
▪ Served as Secretary for the Unborn Child Amendment Committee, a group working to pass a state constitutional amendment outlawing all abortions from conception to birth except when the woman's life is in danger, with no exceptions for rape, incest or the woman's health.
▪ In a 1997 article, he wrote, ".a wife is to subordinate herself to her husband."
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
|
| Carolyn
B. Kuhl |
9th |
CA |
▪ Feminist Victory! 12/23/04 Kuhl Withdraws Her Nomination
▪ Signed onto brief urging that
Roe be overruled
▪ Argued in favor of domestic gag rule
▪ Supported tax exempt status for Bob Jones University
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign
|
|
William G. Myers III |
9th |
ID |
▪3/17/05 Voted out of Judiciary Committee by a 10-8 party line vote
▪ February 14, 2005 Bush Renominates Meyers
▪ December 23, 2004 Bush Announces He Will Renominate Myers
▪ Feminist Victory! 7/21/04 Senate Democrats Block Myers' Nomination
▪ Strongly favors a retreat from the right to privacy, on which the rights to birth control and abortion rest.
▪ Has repeatedly shown himself to be against environmental protection and the rights of Native Americans.
▪ Believes the right to property is as important as the rights to free speech and equal protection.
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign
|
|
| Priscilla
Owen |
5th |
TX |
▪5/25/05 Confirmed by Senate
▪ February 14, 2005 Bush Renominates Owen
▪ December 23, 2004 Bush Announces He Will Renominate Owen
January
2003: Renominated by President Bush
September
2002 : Nominee Defeated in Committee
▪ Voted to narrow and eliminate buffer zones around a group
of Texas abortion clinics
▪Consistently voted
against minors trying to use the judicial bypass provision
of Texas' parental notification
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
|
| Judge
Charles Pickering |
5th |
MS |
December 8, 2004 Pickering Announces His Retirement
January 2004: Bush Makes Recess Appointment
January
2003: Renominated by President Bush
March
2002 : Nominee Defeated in Committee
▪ Voted in favor of a convention to propose a
constitutional amendment to ban abortion
▪ Chaired the subcommittee of the National Republican
Party that approved a plank calling for an amendment
to the U.S. Constitution to make abortion illegal
▪ Opposed the Equal Rights Amendment
▪ The Los Angeles Times officially opposes
Pickering's nomination
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
|
| Bill
Pryor |
11th |
AL |
▪6/9/05 Confirmed by Senate
▪February 14, 2005 Bush Renominates Pryor
February 2004: Bush Makes Recess Appointment
▪ Considers Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional law in
our history"
▪ Leader in promoting states' rights over the
rights of those who have been discriminated against
▪ Supported display of 10 Commandments in state
building
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
|
| Justice Diane Sykes |
7th |
WI |
6/24/04: Senate Confirms Nomination
▪ Praised anti-abortion extremists on trial before her and issued unusually lenient sentences even though they had a history of numerous similar arrests.
▪ Misled Senate Judiciary Committee about her knowledge of the defendants' criminal history.
▪ Refused to answer written questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee about whether Roe v. Wade and Griswold v. Connecticut had been decided correctly.
TAKE ACTION Join the Million4Roe Campaign |
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