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Georgia Rep. John Lewis, one of Washington's most prominent Democrats, called the White House earlier this year to try to block the appointment of a federal prosecutor who won convictions against more than a dozen public officials in Atlanta -- including former Mayor Bill Campbell, a longtime friend and ally of Mr. Lewis. After queries from The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Lewis' contacted White House Counsel Greg Craig late last month to withdraw his objections to the nomination of the prosecutor, Sally Q. Yates, for U.S. Attorney in Atlanta. Two government officials with knowledge of the matter described the calls....

How can it be appropriate to change the legal mechanism for filling a vacancy after that vacancy has occurred?

As speculation swirls about which politicians will vie for the first open Massachusetts Senate seat in 25 years, the process of determining a successor for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy will hinge on the actions of the state Legislature. Current law provides for a special election to fill an open seat five months after a vacancy, a provision enacted by Democrats in 2004 during the presidential election, when Sen. John Kerry was running for president. The law would have prevented then-Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, from appointing a successor to the seat. Just days before his death, Kennedy sent a...

IN 2004, FEARING that Republican Gov. Mitt Romney would appoint a fellow Republican to replace Sen. John F. Kerry should he become president, the Democratic-controlled Massachusetts legislature changed the law, mandating a special election. Now, fearing that the push for health-care reform could be weakened by the absence of a 60th Democratic senator, that same legislature wants to change the law again, allowing the governor -- now a Democrat -- to make a quick appointment. With all due respect to the wishes of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, this isn't how lawmaking is supposed to work. It smacks of political expediency...

*** The SCOTUS shortlist? According to a couple of sources in the know, there appears to be a working short list of about six names for President Obama’s Supreme Court pick. The co-frontrunners (in no particular order): Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Merrick Garland of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

US President Barack Obama faced a host of personnel problems this week, as two top appointees bowed out because of unpaid income taxes and another pick distressed some in the Jewish community. Slideshow: Pictures of the week Samantha Power, a Harvard University genocide expert and former Obama campaign adviser, has been appointed to the the National Security Council's multilateral institutions office. She has been criticized in the past for making statements critical of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. In one clip making the rounds courtesy of YouTube, Power accuses Israel of "major human rights abuses," though she distinguishes...

In addition to all the other reasons we've talked about this week for opposing confirmation of Eric Holder as attorney general, The Heritage Foundation alerts us to his "Sixth Amendment Problem." Citing an article by Harvey Silvergate in The National Law Journal, we learn: "...Holder strongly suggested that, when deciding whether to indict a corporation — and indictment can be a death sentence for companies in certain businesses — they consider whether the company has "cooperated" in the investigation. "Cooperation" was partially defined by whether the corporation agreed to waive the legally protected attorney-client and work-product privileges...including corporate counsel's discussions...

Roland Burris: Not a Virgin in A Chicago Whorehouse From research collected at Chicago: Crime Kind of Town (Many thanks Maggie F) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2151323/posts?q=1&;page=251 Connect the dots: Loop Capital Markets — a big donor to Illinois politicians — secretly funneled money to a Philadelphia attorney to gain business with the city of Philadelphia, according to a federal indictment there. FROM: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:KwpyAfyGBk8J:therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/ayers-and-obama-fixed-chicagos-schools-not-really/+Roland+Burris+%2B+Obama&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=40&gl=us Burris has gone on to receive over $1 million in no-bid, low-effort “consulting” contracts from Illinois State agencies under the Governor’s control as well as a $5000/month “retainer” from Loop Capital, headed by BHO homie Jim Reynolds. FROM: http://www.barackbook.com/Profiles/JamesReynoldsJr.htm “In...

U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 6 Article 1 - The Legislative Branch Section 6 - Compensation paragraph two states: "No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office."

For more than a year the American people have been tortured, ad nauseum, with the Obama campaign theme, “Change We Can Believe In.” Republicans... and a few curious Democrats... have asked to be enlightened on the exact meaning of that theme, but to no avail. Their inquiries have been met either with stony silence or meaningless platitudes... most equating to whatever is the anti-Bush theme of the day in Democratic circles. But now that Obama is the presumptive president-elect we’ll very soon get to see exactly what he meant. (Obama will not be the president-elect until sometime around noon EST,...

Former solicitor general under the Clinton Administration Walter Dellinger told the Washington Post that Granholm is on a short list of five people to replace an outgoing Supreme Court Justice if Democrat Barack Obama is elected President.

"...Midge Rendell went on to become a federal trial court judge in 1994 and was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997 to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals..." "...She is now one step away from a seat on the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, and Specter says that could be in her future..."

Under pressure from House Republicans, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) may be backing away from a plan to place Rep. William J. Jefferson on the Homeland Security Committee. “It’s being considered,” a Democratic aide acknowledged Monday. Jefferson, D-La., who is the subject of a federal bribery investigation, was tapped last month by Pelosi to serve on the panel because it oversees much of the recovery effort in his New Orleans district. The House Democratic Caucus approved the appointment last week. Only a procedural vote on the House floor was needed to make him an official member of the...

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), who stripped embattled Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) of his seat on a powerful tax committee last year, has decided to put him on the Homeland Security panel, infuriating some Republicans who charge he may be a security risk. Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat, was kicked off the Ways and Means Committee amid a federal bribery probe, yet still won re-election to a ninth term. Pelosi is giving him a seat on the panel after Jefferson was outspoken in his criticism of the homeland security agencies that responded to...

ALBANY, New York: If Hillary Rodham Clinton wins the White House in 2008, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer would appoint a successor to fill her Senate seat for two years, a situation that has renewed speculation Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might one day follow in his father's political footsteps. Kennedy has long expressed an interest in the Senate seat from New York that was held by his father Robert Kennedy for more than three years until his assassination in 1968 as he pursued the Democratic presidential nomination. Kennedy, a New York-based environmental lawyer, did not immediately return a telephone message...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (AP) — With Congress now in a recess, President Bush on Thursday bypassed opposition from Democrats in the Senate and the United Mineworkers of America and appointed his nominee to head the agency that oversees mine safety. Mr. Bush appointed Richard M. Stickler, who is expected to serve about a year until the end of the next session of Congress. Mr. Stickler, of Terra Alta, W. Va., will head the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which has been without a leader for two years. <-Snip->Mr. Bush nominated Mr. Stickler last year, but Senate Democrats have blocked the...

SIMI VALLEY How does Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito describe the last year, when he endured a bruising confirmation fight in the Senate to land a seat on the nation's highest court? "I sometimes feel as if I had an out of body experience," he said. Speaking Tuesday to a capacity crowd at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Alito described the highs and lows that came with being plucked from the relative quiet of a seat on the federal bench in New Jersey and landing in the spotlight of Washington politics. It was, he said, "certainly quite a change." Hounded...

The UN has appointed Antero Lopes as Acting Police Commissioner for the UN peacekeeping operation Timor East, the world body announced Tuesday. Lopes joined the UN Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT) in mid-August. He had previously assisted in the planning of the police component of the new mission as a member of the assessment mission led by Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy, Ian Martin, in June. From 1993 to 1995 Lopes served as a Regional Commander and Chief of Operations in the former Yugoslavia, where he was also co-founder of the project that lead to the Human Rights Commission...

SACRAMENTO The Coastal Commission has told an appointee of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez that she should not show up to vote on a high profile Pebble Beach golf development because her appointment was made in violation of state law. The commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, said Monday that Elizabeth Brem's appointment as an alternate was not sanctioned by the commissioner she would represent. She agreed to skip the meeting, Douglas added. Nunez last week named four people to serve as commission alternates just days before the panel was set to vote on the Pebble Beach development, which is backed by...

SACRAMENTO — Republican lawmakers scolded Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday, telling him in a closed-door meeting how seriously his support among party stalwarts is wavering. --snip-- The Republican loyalists cast the hiring of Susan Kennedy, a top advisor to former Gov. Gray Davis, as a betrayal that raises a fundamental question about Schwarzenegger: Is he a Republican, or isn't he? "When my quarterback throws the ball to the other team, I've got worries," said Assemblyman Ray Haynes (R-Murrieta), in an interview after the meeting. Some of the lawmakers told the governor that unhappiness over the Kennedy appointment is widespread. There...

Top California Republicans are wondering if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is moving left politically following his appointment to chief of staff of Susan Kennedy – a leading liberal activist and former aide to Democrat Gov. Gray Davis. "We're not moving anywhere," Schwarzenegger says, insisting that he is continuing to go "in the same direction." Some of his Republican colleagues wonder what direction that may be. "I'm getting more e-mails off of this [the Kennedy appointment] than I do for Viagra," said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, in an interview with the L.A. Times newspaper. "Since the special election,...

A mock Supreme Court argument in a gay-rights case reminds us that liberals sometimes agree with the next chief justice WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- You won't see John Roberts among the head shots of Supreme Court justices posted at the William & Mary Law School, site of the 2005-06 Supreme Court Preview. Instead of Roberts' face in the space reserved for the chief justice there is a question mark, a reflection of Roberts-like caution on the part of the organizers of this annual conference on the new court term. After all, Roberts hasn't been confirmed yet. But if Roberts is missing...

If President Bush wants to make a "diversity" pick for a Supreme Court nomination, must he swim shallow or deep in the pool of conservative minority and female possibilities? Conventional wisdom last week suggested that Bush, after tapping Judge John Roberts, a white male, for the position of chief justice, was unlikely to name another white male for the remaining high court vacancy, the seat currently held by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice. Of course, conventional wisdom immediately after O'Connor announced her impending retirement held that Bush would maintain or increase diversity on the high court in...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 - President Bush is focused on Hispanics, African-Americans and women to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and he may announce his choice for her seat on the Supreme Court as early as the court's opening days in October, Republican strategists said on Wednesday. Republicans noted that it was still early in the process and that the strategists were putting forth a diverse selection of potential nominees in part to portray the White House as interested in people from politically important constituencies. The timing of the announcement, strategists said, could allow a nominee to be confirmed as early...

Senator Diane Feinstein today spoke a little about Supreme Court nominees, and what we can expect from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. She also let us in on what issues Liberals in the U.S. consider when they think of the rulings that affected them, and which they cherish the most. Feinstein told those gathered to hear her at a meeting of the L.A. County Bar Association that in her opinion the person chosen to replace Sandra Day O'Connor should be "balanced and Fair," and not come from either extreme. She then proceeded to give a history lesson to those gathered,...

Excerpts from the coming senate judiciary committee hearings on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court. Arlen Specter (R-PA): Senator Allen, have you any questions of Judge Roberts? Senator Allen (R-VA): Yes I do. Good morning Judge Roberts. Judge Roberts: Good morning Senator. Allen: Your honor, my democrat colleagues on this committee have read tens of thousands of pages -- excuse me -- my democrat colleagues have had their STAFFS read tens of thousands of pages of documents and Lexis Nexis transcripts looking for some scandal to pin on you, and they have been unsuccessful. But I...

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In June, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid promised an up-or-down vote, but only if the White House opened sensitive files to Senate rummaging. The White House refused — and quite appropriately so. And so the game drags on. Well, again, it's time to bring it to a halt. Rumors abound in Washington that Bush will take the opportunity of a congressional recess to put Bolton in the U.N. in time for September's General Assembly convocation. The so-called recess appointment would keep Bolton on the job until February 2007 — and who knows what would happen then? Sure, such a course...

Perhaps Sen. Charles Schumer should have taken the Quiet Car. Here's what the New York Democrat reportedly was overheard saying the other day on Amtrak: "Even William Rehnquist is more moderate than they expected. The only one that resulted how they predicted [was] Scalia. So most of the time they've gotten their picks wrong, and that's what we want to do to them again." Whether or not this quote from the Drudge Report is accurate, the sentiment is correct: The litany of conservative disappointments over Supreme Court appointments is long. Earl Warren. Harry Blackmun. John Paul Stevens. Anthony Kennedy and...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, denying rumors of his retirement, said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. "I'm not about to announce my retirement," he said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. "I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement," said Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer. "I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits." Rehnquist released the statement hours after being released from an...

President Bush said today that his nominee for the Supreme Court may be someone who has never sat on the bench before. "Would I be willing to consider people who had never been a judge?" Mr. Bush said. "And the answer is, 'You bet.'" Mr. Bush said he had had "a very good meeting" on Tuesday with Senate leaders of both parties, who had encouraged him to look beyond the federal judiciary for candidates (...) "We're considering all kind of people," Mr. Bush said after a Cabinet meeting today. "Judges, non-judges. Laura gave me some good advice yesterday, which is...

Reid cited Justice Hugo Black of Alabama as a former senator who was appointed to the Supreme Court. Black, a member of the Ku Klux Klan in his youth, was appointed to the court by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937. “I think it is a great idea,” Reid said about the possibility of appointing a senator to the Supreme Court. “Some outstanding people have come from the Senate. The last was an ex-Ku Klux Klansman who turned out to be one of the greatest civil-rights jurists of all time.”

[SNIP] On Friday, with the announced retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor from the Supreme Court, It took a few minutes for the news to set in on Capitol Hill, among Republicans and Democrats alike. After all, even the White House in briefing Republican leadership on the Hill spoke in the belief that it would be Chief Justice William Rehnquist who is retiring. "The White House seemed to be expecting Rehnquist first, that was what my boss was getting briefed on," says a staffer for a Senator sitting on the Judiciary Committee. "We were told Rehnquist in July, possibly later this...

The Supreme Court and the Constitution Robert E. Cushman, The Supreme Court and the Constitution (Public Affairs Pamphlet, No. 7, 1936) pp. 1-36. The average citizen has a very wholesome respect for the Constitution of the United States. His respect does not usually come from any clear or accurate knowledge of the document itself, but grows out of the belief that the Constitution sanctions those policies which he approves and forbids those which seem to him dangerous or oppressive. His reaction to the Supreme Court is similarly direct and forthright; its decisions are sound if he likes them and unsound...

D.C. Circuit Judge Gets on Supreme Court Short List Tony Mauro John Roberts Jr., the newest judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, was hanging back. During a typical oral argument last week, colleague Harry Edwards fussed and fumed at the lawyers before him, while David Sentelle tossed out avuncular one-liners in his thick Southern drawl. But Roberts, the third judge on the panel, was quiet. When he did speak finally, he was barely audible, politely asking a question or two, but never tipping his hand. To anyone watching for the first time, Roberts barely made...

WASHINGTON -- It was not merely a leak from the normally leak-proof Bush White House. For more than a week, a veritable torrent has tipped Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as President Bush's first nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. It has sent the conservative movement into spasms of fear and loathing. Gonzales long has been unacceptable to anti-abortion activists because of his record as a Texas Supreme Court justice. Beyond pro-lifers, he is opposed by organized conservative lawyers. Ironically, the same Bush supporters who have been raising money and devising tactics for the mother of all judicial confirmation fights are...

Buoyed by his reelection but dismayed by rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, a president overreaches.In 1936, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won reelection with the largest popular vote in history at the time and the best showing in the electoral college since James Monroe ran unopposed in 1820. The election night jubilation was tempered, however, by an inescapable fear—that the U.S. Supreme Court might undo Roosevelt's accomplishments. Beginning in the spring of 1935, a conservative majority had begun to strike down New Deal legislation passed by the Congress. On February 5, 1937, FDR unleashed a thunderbolt: he asked Congress to empower...

WASHINGTON - If constitutional interpretation were race-car driving, the US Supreme Court term that ended this week would be notable more for applying the brakes than hitting the accelerator. Two key areas of conservative jurisprudence hit speed bumps in major rulings - property rights and federalism, or states' rights. As a result, the so-called federalism revolution is suddenly looking a lot less revolutionary. Some analysts are questioning whether the "Rehnquist Court" under conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist might be better described as the "Stevens Court," in recognition of the behind-the-scenes role of Justice John Paul Stevens in assembling majorities supporting...

As the Supreme Court embraced moderation, the conservative agenda stalled. Solicitor General Paul Clement says he's noticed a new trend in the wardrobe of Supreme Court advocates. More and more men who argue before the Court are wearing bow ties, a tribute to the trademark neckwear of Justice John Paul Stevens -- and to his power. Midway through the ninth decade of his life, Stevens reached the peak of his career in the Supreme Court term that ended Monday. With a strong assist from Justice Anthony Kennedy, Stevens, 85, was able to assemble majorities and write opinions that read like...

WASHINGTON -- The mystery surrounding Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's future took much of the attention Monday as the Supreme Court finished its business with no retirements. Rehnquist, who is 80 and has cancer, could step down anytime. He chose not to make any comments about his plans while in court, although he appeared weak. The chief justice, who has a trachea tube, had difficulty as he announced the final ruling of the term, his opinion that upheld a Ten Commandments display in Texas. His breathing was labored, and he kept the explanation short. On Monday morning hundreds of people...

Samuel A. Alito, 55, is a judge on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. ---------- Emilio Garza, 58, is a judge on the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The former Marine and Texas state judge was considered for a Supreme Court seat by the first President Bush. ---------- J. Michael Luttig, 51, is considered a solid conservative choice for the high court. The Texas native worked in the Justice Department during the first Bush administration. ---------- Michael McConnell, 50, is a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. ---------- A former Rehnquist...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Even as he pushes ballot measures that would bring drastic change to public schools, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Friday appointments to a new bipartisan committee to advise him on improving education. Led by Occidental College President Ted Mitchell, the Gov.'s Advisory Committee on Education Excellence is charged with giving the administration long-term advice on improving the state's education system. The new commission, which has 15 members plus Mitchell, includes Democratic former state Sen. Dede Alpert; Sherry Lansing, chairman emeritus, Paramount Pictures; Caprice Young, head of the California Charter Schools Association; and Peter Mehas, superintendent, Fresno County Office...

SACRAMENTO - Donald Fisher, founder and chairman emeritus of Gap, Inc., was appointed to another term on the State Board of Education by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday. Fisher, 76, founded the retail clothing chain in 1969 with his wife Doris. Previously, he was a partner in Fisher Property Investment Co., a general contracting and real estate management firm. The Republican businessman and philanthropist was first appointed to the board by then-Gov. Gray Davis in 2001. Fisher, of San Francisco, is a board member of Boys and Girls Clubs of America, EdVoice, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the California...

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the following appointments: Drew Bohan, 41, of Santa Barbara, has been appointed deputy cabinet secretary in the Office of the Governor. He has served as assistant secretary for policy for the California Environmental Protection Agency since last year. He was executive director of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Santa Barbara Channel, from 2000 to 2003. Previously he served as senior legislative counsel for the Republic of Palau National Congress. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $95,000. Bohan is registered decline-to-state. Matthew Cate, 38, of...

WASHINGTON - It was one bitter episode in the long-running feud over President Bush’s judicial nominees: Senate Democrats were dead-set against Alabama Attorney General William Pryor serving as a federal appeals court judge, so they talked his nomination into the ground, twice foiling Republican attempts to get the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster.

A judge's opinion in Germany or India or Zimbabwe shouldn't matter when it comes to how an American judge interprets the U.S. Constitution. But a growing body of activist judges believes that world opinion should play a role in how they decide cases. That's a radical - and dangerous - departure from more than two centuries of American constitutional law. It's also anti-democratic, placing the decisions of unelected judges above the deliberations of elected representatives. The job of every judge is to exercise judicial judgment, not impose political preferences. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer on Thursday debated...

Gov. Bob Taft today is expected to appoint his lieutenant governor, Jennette Bradley, as state treasurer and replace her with Bruce E. Johnson, the current director of the Ohio Department of Development. You need to register to find the whole article.

Attorney named to post on state PUC Dian Grueneich has represented SLO Mothers for PeaceGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed an attorney who represented the San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace to a key regulatory position. Dian Grueneich was appointed Thursday to the state Public Utilities Commission. Until her appointment, Grueneich represented Mothers for Peace in the group's case before the PUC against a steam generator replacement project at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. "We are thrilled that the commission has someone who has the consumers at heart," said Rochelle Becker, spokeswoman for Mothers for Peace. Pacific Gas and Electric Co.,...

Reid Says He Could Back Scalia for Chief Justice Comments Anger Liberals And Thomas Supporters By Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 7, 2004; Page A04 Partisans on both sides of the debate over judicial nominees voiced displeasure yesterday with incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid's comments indicating that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia could make an acceptable nominee for chief justice. In an interview Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," the Nevada Democrat said that although he often disagrees with Scalia, he could support him to be chief justice of the United States because he...

The Successor to Greenspan Has a Very Tough Act to Follow WHEN Alan Greenspan finally retires from the Federal Reserve, will he leave behind any of his DNA? Now in his 18th remarkable year as Fed chairman, the owlish and idiosyncratic Mr. Greenspan is required by law to step down in January 2006. Nominating a successor could be President Bush's biggest economic decision next year, given Mr. Greenspan's mythic reputation as the guardian of price stability and economic growth. A big uncertainty is how any successor will extend Mr. Greenspan's approach to monetary policy, which has been as much an...