Free Republic

Freepers, First I apologize in advance for the vanity. I have been very active in the last several months trying to push Estrada's nomination. Pryor recently as he's from my state. On thread after thread I see people complaining at the fact that Frist/Bush won't make the Senate go 24/7. Let me explain this is probably not the best course of action to take right now. 1. The mainstream media- remember how Clinton was able to frame the govt shutdown as the Repubs fault? How easy do you think ABCBSCNNMSNBC will be able to say, right wing republicans block prescription...

During Clinton's tenure, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.) supported forcing the Senate to vote on judicial nominations before a long break, like the looming August recess. He even proposed legislation to get it done. Now he's blocking the Senate's duty of advice and consent.This week Senate Democrats were successful in blocking a confirmation vote on three superb Circuit Court nominees – Priscilla Owen, Miguel Estrada, and William Pryor. They most likely would have been successful in blocking a fourth – Carolyn Kuhl to the Ninth Circuit – had the vote on cloture not been vitiated last night. Instead, Ms. Kuhl must...

The Senate Leftists are continuing to ignore their constitutionally spelled-out job to vote on judicial nominees. Instead, they are leading a "filibuster" against good conservatives. The GOP should force a real filibuster.The Democrats' continued attempts to avoid their constitutional duty of advice and consent took another step Wednesday as they voted, for the seventh time this year, to block the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The vote came as no surprise as they seem to be in the habit of bad-mouthing and voting against Mr. Estrada and they had voted Tuesday against ending their...

Today the Senate is scheduled to vote on the motion to end the Democrats' filibuster of Texas Justice Pricilla Owen to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. This is the 3rd vote to end the Left's blockade of Justice Owen this year. Do you remember last year when the Democrats held the Senate majority? During those dark days, the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.), killed the Owen nomination in committee. At that time they thought they were done with her. A funny thing happened two months later that the Daschle Democrats didn't expect: the elections of...

<p>Judge for Yourself Are Senate Democrats determined to keep believers off the bench?</p> <p>A study of the earliest federal judicial nominees reveals that they were expected to be of the highest character, display sober temperament, experience no incidents of moral turpitude, and profess a belief in God and the Bible. A federal judge's public display of faith was considered to be a mark of the highest ethical standards and an indication of fairness and concern for all who would seek justice in the courts.</p>

Is GOP's heavy hand the American way? By James W. Brosnan BrosnanJ@shns.com July 7, 2003 WASHINGTON - The July 4 holiday should remind us that we fought for our independence because a king and his parliament refused to allow a minority of his subjects to have a say about their taxes and courts. Perhaps the Republican majority in Congress needs a refresher course in American history. In the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Rules Committee chairman Trent Lott (R-Miss.) are trying to weaken the rule on filibusters - a tactic for delaying or blocking Senate action by making...

May 23, 2003 Dear Mr. ___________, Thank you for contacting me regarding judicial nominations. I appreciate hearing from you. I view my responsibility to advise and consent to judicial nominations as one of my most important duties. It is a duty that requires me to determine not just if a candidate has the intellectual capacity for the position, but whether he or she will protect the rights and liberties of individuals as established by our Constitution. While it is the prerogative of every President to nominate federal judges, the Senate must ensure that those judges have unquestionable integrity and relevant...

Today's topic: The President's judicial nominees and the nominating process. In Focus: Judicial Nominations Alberto Gonzales -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Judge Gonzales Good afternoon. Thanks for joining me on "Ask the White House". This is an important day to participate in this online discussion as tomorrow is the two year anniversary of the president's first 11 Appeals Court nominations. Of those nominations, four still have yet to receive an up or down vote. Let's get started. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eddie, from Macon Ga writes: On todays local news there was a story about a possible lawsuit by Senators Saxby Chambliss Ga and Lindsey Graham SC...

FORCING MAJORITY RULE Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the 79-year-old president pro tem and senior Republican in the Senate, has been a tiger in closed-door Republican meetings urging an effort to rule filibusters against judicial nominees out of order so that a simple majority of 51 votes would be sufficient for confirmation. Freshman Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri has made public the 51-vote plan, but Stevens has led the way inside the GOP conference. However, all 51 Republicans are not yet on board for this plan. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, facing a conservative primary election challenge this year, may...

Not much notice here folks, but Friday is OBSTRUCTION DAY! What's OBSTRUCTION DAY? It's the two year anniversary of President Bush's first nominations to the federal bench. Although 125 of these judges have been confirmed, we still have 83 to go, with more on the way. A rally is already scheduled for Washington, DC... that thread is here. But what about where you live? It's time to get out on Friday, May 9th, and let folks know just how we feel about the filibustering, the name-calling, and the lying. We need to tell Senator Clinton exactly what we think...

NOW Urges Senate to Block Owen Nomination: The Sequel May 1, 2003 "Today, Senate Democrats have taken the first step to block another extremist Bush judicial nominee," said National Organization for Women (NOW) President Kim Gandy. "Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen was rejected in 2002—but Bush put her nomination forward again in blatant disregard of the Senate's advice and consent role." "We've seen Judge Owen use the courtroom to further her narrow beliefs and ideals, going so far as to virtually re-write laws rather than fairly interpret them," Gandy said. "The last thing the Fifth Circuit needs is more...

Republicans could immediately break the current filibusters against two of President Bush's judicial nominees with a rarely used parliamentary procedure that would confirm them through a simple majority vote, according to a plan under consideration by Senate Republicans.

<p>This afternoon, Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution, will convene a hearing on "Judicial Nominations, Filibusters, and the Constitution: When a Majority Is Denied Its Right to Consent." It's about time. For the past three months, Senate Democrats have filibustered the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Last week, they made official their hitherto informal filibuster of the nomination of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. And it might not end there. In the future, other nominees, including to the U.S. Supreme Court, might become filibuster targets.</p>

NOMINATIONS SHOULD BE DECIDED BY MAJORITY From Andrew Hyman: The Hill’s March 12 article about the Estrada filibuster (“GOP moves ahead with controversial nominees”) reports that Republicans see a silver lining, but that would be cynical and misguided. Even if a couple more Republicans are elected to the Senate, that would be useless if they cannot perform their constitutional duty of advice and consent. Democratic senators are wrong too, when they argue that there is a legitimate comparison between the obstruction of President Clinton’s nominees by a Senate majority, versus obstruction now by a Senate minority. The Framers of the...

Two Judges Face the Heat Excerpts from Roll Call; April 28, 2003 Senate Republicans are expected to try to force votes on two of President Bush’s top judicial picks this week, testing Democratic will to maintain simultaneous filibusters and likely imperiling working relations between the two parties for the foreseeable future. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is expected to seek confirmation votes on Miguel Estrada and Priscilla Owen as early as Wednesday, a one-two political punch designed to highlight Democratic opposition to the GOP’s minority and women judicial candidates. “The only way we can get traction on this...

Defeat the Judicial Nominations of Owen and Sutton Contributed by Working Assets The Bush administration is continuing its aggressive efforts to dramatically alter the makeup of the Federal appeals courts by nominating ideologically driven candidates. While much of the public's attention has been distracted by the drumbeat of war, Mr. Bush and his conservative allies continue to push through candidates who will tilt critical appeals courts for decades to come. If approved, these nominees receive lifetime appointments and are often considered for the Supreme Court. Last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected only two of the most damaging candidates, Priscilla...

With Senate Democrats taking obstructionism to new levels, the president should re-read Article II, Section 2, Paragraph 3. by Hugh Hewitt 04/23/2003 12:00:00 AM Hugh Hewitt, contributing writer THE LEFT EDGE of the Senate Democratic caucus has taken control of the judicial-nomination process and has forced the entire Senate into what is, at best, an extra-constitutional swamp. With their filibuster of D.C. Circuit Court nominee Miguel Estrada, their threatened filibusters of Fifth Circuit nominees Priscilla Owen and Charles Pickering, and their obstruction of other nominees such as John Roberts, Carolyn Kuhl, and a half-dozen Sixth Circuit nominees, Senate Democrats have...

Senate GOP Pushes Judicial Nominee Owen WASHINGTON - Stymied by the Miguel Estrada filibuster, Senate Republicans on Monday moved to another White House judicial nominee, Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen. "I hope we don't have a filibuster on this case, like we are with Miguel Estrada," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (news, bio, voting record), R-Ala., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites). Republicans want a quick confirmation vote on Owen, who is nominated for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) in New Orleans. But many Democrats and...

Democrats Likely to Filibuster Owen Nomination by Jonathan Groner and John Council, Texas Lawyer After being shot down by the Democratic-controlled Senate last year, Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen faces a slightly less hostile audience now in her pursuit of a seat on the federal bench. ADVERTISEMENT But after a March 13 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination, it remains uncertain whether the controversial jurist ever will gain the approval of the full Senate. At a sparsely attended second hearing on her nomination to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Owen vigorously defended her record against assertions...

Commentary: The Secret Plan To Thwart Bush Washington is buzzing about a recent Robert Novak column that exposed the secret plan developed by Ted Kennedy to block all of President Bush's appellate court nominees. The current controversy centers around Miguel Estrada, who is being filibustered to death by Senate liberals. (Editor's note: Find out how you can help by clicking here.) But the plan is much broader and goes back to a secret meeting that took place on January 30th in the office of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. At that meeting Daschle, Kennedy and six other Judiciary Committee Democrats...