Oh wait. Crud. I'm sorry. Wrong photo. This is a picture of Webb taken from his website.
Now, where did I put that picture??
Posted on 01/18/2008 4:19:40 PM PST by Jean S
Duncan Getchell, President Bush’s choice for a spot on a key appellate court, has withdrawn his nomination after his confirmation by the full Senate seemed to be in peril.
Bush nominated Getchell in September for a spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which covers Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. Getchell was selected to fill one of the four seats traditionally held by Virginia.
But the choice came under immediate criticism in Congress since Virginia’s senators, John Warner (R) and Jim Webb (D), did not recommend Getchell to the post.
By choosing Getchell, critics said Bush chose confrontation rather than cooperation with Congress for a spot on the bench. But the White House rejected that assertion, saying Getchell, a lawyer in Richmond, is highly qualified for the post.
Still, the Senate Judiciary Committee has not considered the nomination, and the prospects for his confirmation in an election-year appeared grim.
In a letter sent Thursday to the White House, Getchell acknowledged the political reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed for a lifetime seat on the bench.
“I fully recognize that there is a political component to judicial selection and so I also appreciated those who have written senators to ask that my nomination proceed to a hearing,” Getchell said. “Nonetheless, recent press reports indicate that despite the support I have received, the Senate Democratic leadership will not allow a hearing to go forward and so, after prayerful consideration, I have determined to withdraw my name from consideration.”
“It’s always disappointing when the process prevents highly qualified candidates from receiving a fair up-or-down vote,” said Emily Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman.
In a statement, Webb said he urged the president to “seize this opportunity to nominate a candidate who can garner bipartisan support here in the Senate.”
“I know today’s decision by Duncan Getchell was a difficult one for him and his family to make,” Webb said.
In 2006, Warner and former Sen. George Allen (R) recommended Getchell to the bench. But this Congress, Warner and Webb agreed to drop Getchell’s name from a list of five prospective nominees that they asked the White House to consider.
Left-leaning critics of Getchell called him an ideologue and blasted his membership in the conservative Federalist Society. Warner issued a statement in September questioning the White House for ignoring his recommendations.
Code lingo for give us a pinko commie judge that will legislate from the bench.
Another example of weak Republican voters, and weak Republican media, doing exactly what the media wanted them to do, dump Allan for Webb.
Read Mark Levin’s “Men in Black”. Quite enlightening. There are conservative fights on several fronts, and one of the most important is the judiciary.
If he had been part of the ACLU in his past, he would have sailed through to the position, I'm sure.
No ideology litmus testing here, no siree-Bob..../sarc.
Well, many alleged conservatives have been just as vocal as liberals in attacking GWB (by constrast, liberals actively defending Bill Clinton even when he would disagree with them). This is simply the chickens coming home to roost on that.
Ironically, the effort for ideological purity will only end up moving the Republican party and it’s elected officials further to the left in the end and hamper efforts to put real conservatives on the bench.
On September 1, 2007, Warner announced he would not seek reelection.
Maybe we will get someone there who will support conservative judge appointments.
Oh wait. Crud. I'm sorry. Wrong photo. This is a picture of Webb taken from his website.
Now, where did I put that picture??
Warner good riddance to bad garbage
It’s garbage like this that keeps Republicans form becooming a majority party. No sense of loyalty and a bizarre eagerness to throw their own under the bus. Here in the People’s Republic of Alexandria, an attorney was recommended by a panel to be appointed to state district court. The Panel was chaired by a Republican. The local Democratic Party slow rolled hte nomination for months, and he was informed after the facts that Republican leadership in Richmond traded in his nomination for a vote on a spending bill. Another local liberal politician ended up on the bench, but the pork kept flowing!
Lesson I learned: Only a damn fool trusts a politician!
This reminds me of a thought I had for Fred Thompson’s campaign.
It’s too late to implement it in South Carolina, obviously, but he should start doing it in Florida.
He needs to start highlighting the difference between him and John McCain on judges.
He should run an ad that shows him with Chief Justice John Roberts, contrasted with an image of John McCain with Arlen Specter, Lindsay Graham, and other Gang of 14ers.
The ad should say something like “While Fred Thompson fought to get Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed to the Supreme Court, John McCain worked with Democrats behind the scenes to block qualified judges from getting an up or down vote on the Senate floor.”
Air this ad enough, and it will sink McCain for good, and Fred Thompson will be the Republican nominee.
The only question is, will Fred play hardball politics with his old Senate friend?
I don’t believe for a second Fred is in the race to secretly help John McCain, but I do think he may be too honorable to go after someone he considers a friend. Good thing he doesn’t consider Mike Huckabee a friend, at least.
But he really needs to do something like this to prove he’s no stalking horse for McCain.
Jonathan Turley helping to smear the judge:
Bush Nominee for the Fourth Circuit — Duncan Getchell, Jr. — Sued for Defamation
The Washington Post chimes in: (makes one think there might be a biased media or something/s)
Mr. Bush instead tapped Virginia lawyer E. Duncan Getchell Jr., who has no judicial experience. This was a mistake. The opinions of home-state senators are critical to a nominee’s confirmation chances, and neither senator has embraced the nomination, meaning it will stall and the seat will remain unfilled.
Mr. Bush can still redeem himself. There are two remaining vacancies — one a Virginia seat, the other a Maryland slot — for which he has not forwarded a nomination. Out of courtesy and political pragmatism, Mr. Bush should seek the views of Maryland Democratic Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin
Alliance for Justice also chimes in with a smear (AFJ systematically opposes Republican judicial nominees):
Virginia Senators Warner and Webb considered and rejected E. Duncan Getchell for appointment to the Fourth Circuit. He has authored no published articles or speeches that shed light on his judicial philosophy. His long substantial litigation experience advocating on behalf of powerful corporate interests coupled with his actions in joining and remaining a member of the Commonwealth Club of Richmond, notorious for its past record of white-only membership and its current policy of men-only membership, and his dismissive treatment of caricatures of Native Americans strongly suggest a nominee who will not be dedicated to equal justice for all.
Alliance for Justice:
Founded in 1979 by Nan Aron, Alliance For Justice (AFJ) describes itself as “a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women’s, children’s and consumer advocacy organizations.” Among AFJ’s 74 member groups are the Children’s Defense Fund; the Center for Reproductive Rights; the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund; the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund; the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; the National Abortion Federation; the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL); the National Immigration Forum; the National Council for Research on Women; the National Lawyers Guild; the National Immigration Law Center; the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund; the Natural Resources Defense Council; the National Women’s Law Center; Physicians for Human Rights; the Planned Parenthood Federation of America; the Sierra Club Foundation; the Tides Center; and the Wilderness Society.
The first major victory of AFJ’s Judicial Selection Project occurred when Judge Robert Bork was nominated for the Supreme Court by President Reagan in 1987. Immediately after Bork’s nomination, AFJ sent messages to the editorial offices of every newspaper in the United States, urging the Senate to reject. The day after the nomination was announced, AFJ representatives also held closed-door strategy meetings with Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee. “We’re in triple gear,” said Nan Aron, exhorting the American Bar Association to declare Bork unqualified for the post. AFJ’s efforts had a profound influence on the media, which produced a multitude of articles characterizing Bork as nothing more than a figure of the radical right. This propaganda campaign eventually culminated in Senator Edward Kennedy’s assertion that “Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens.” In the end, the Bork nomination was scuttled.
Emboldened by its success, AFJ turned its focus toward further attacks on Republican nominees to both the Supreme Court the lower courts. In the hearings to confirm Clarence Thomas (nominated by President George H.W. Bush) to the Supreme Court, for instance, Nan Aron said that Thomas was opposed to civil rights for minorities; claimed that there was “something in [his] record to offend most everybody”; and accused him of harboring “a radical philosophy that exalts his own views over the Constitution.” When this first wave of attacks failed to derail Thomas’ nomination, AFJ researchers dredged up Anita Hill to make sexual harassment allegations against him.
As if E. Duncan Getchell Jr.’s nomination to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wasn’t already struggling just a month out of the gate, now a Virginia newspaper reports a clerical error that cost a client an $8 million jury verdict could be tagged to Getchell or his firm, McGuireWoods.
Although it is still unclear who was responsible, someone failed to file a trial transcript in an appeal of the $8 million case stemming from a ski accident at Wintergreen Resort, near Charlottesville, Va.
Getchell and his prominent Richmond, Va., firm took over the appeal after the 2004 verdict. He reportedly signed a notice of appeal stating, inaccurately, a trial transcript had been filed, according to the Virginian-Pilot.
Piling on:
One of President Bush’s two new nominees for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is under fire because he wasn’t on a recommended list drawn up by Virginia’s two senators.
The nominee, E. Duncan Getchell Jr., chair of the appellate practice group at McGuireWoods, has represented the Virginia Republican party, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Meanwhile, you may have heard allegations recently that Fourth Circuit nominee E. Duncan Getchell made an $8 million clerical mistake in private practice. However, Marc Davis of the The Virginian-Pilot reports:
[T]he insurance company that paid the $8 million does not blame Getchell – yet. For now, the company is suing the trial attorney and his law firm in a legal malpractice case to recover the money....A White House spokesman, Blair C. Jones, noted that the legal malpractice lawsuit does not name Getchell or McGuireWoods as defendants but specifically blames the trial lawyer for not filing the transcript.
Getchell’s qualifications, including: Duncan Getchell, of Richmond, Virginia, is a highly accomplished and well-respected appellate lawyer who has litigated a wide range of cases at every level in state and federal courts. Mr. Getchell has an outstanding record as a practicing attorney, particularly at the appellate level, and as a public servant. Duncan Getchell is widely respected and recommended by Virginia lawyers.
Thanks to the Gang of 14...McCain, Lindsay Grahmensty, etc.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.