To: Senator Durbin
From: [Blacked out]
Date: November 7, 2001
Re: Meeting with Civil Rights Leaders Yesterday to Discuss Judges
Due to the floor activity last night, you missed a meeting with Senator Kennedy and representatives of various civil rights groups. This was intended to follow up a meeting in Senator Kennedy's office in mid-October, when the groups expressed serious concern with the quick hearing for Charles Pickering and the pace of judicial nominations generally.
Yesterday's meeting accomplished two objectives. First, the groups advocated for some procedural ground rules. These include (1) only one hearing per monthl (2) no more than three judges per hearing; (3) giving Committee Democrats and the public more advance notice of scheduled nominees; (4) no recess hearings; and (5) a commitment that nominees voted down in Committee will not get a floor vote. Earlier yesterday, Senator Leahy's staff committed to the third item in principle.
Second, yesterday's meeting focused on identifying the most controversial and/or vulnerable judicial nominees, and a strategy for targeting them. The groups singled out three-- Jeffrey Sutton (6th Circuit); Priscilla Owen (5th Circuit); and Caroline Kuhl (9th Circuit) -- as a potential nominee for a contentious hearing early next year, with a eye to voting him or her down in Committee. They also identified Miguel Estrada (D.C. Circuit) as especially dangerous, because he has a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment. They want to hold Estrada off as long as possible.
Attached is a table I compiled, evaluating the 19 Court of Appeals nominees and a few of the controversial district court nominees. Based on input from the groups, I would place the appellate nominees in the categories below. Asterisks indicate that a Senator has placed a hold on the nominee.
Good Bad Ugly Clifton (9th Cir.)* Shedd (4th Cir.) Boyle (4th Cir.)* Melloy (8th Cir.) Roberts (D.C. Cir) Owen (5th Cir.) O'Brien (10th Cir.) L. Smith (8th Cir.) Sutton (6th Cir.) * Howard (1st Cir.) Pickering (5th Cir.) Cook (6th Cir.)* B. Smith (3rd Cir.) Tymkovich (10th Cir.) McConnell (10th Cir.) Gibbons (6th Cir.) Estrada (D.C. Cir.) Steele (11th Cir.) Kuhl (9th Cir.)*