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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...

Judiciary Committee has now cleared 100 of 102 Bush nominees over 16 months. Of those, 80 have been approved by the full chamber. WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee, in its last meeting under Democratic control, raised its 98% approval rate for President Bush's judges by clearing two more on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Dennis Shedd of South Carolina, a protege of retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), won a narrow vote to serve on the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Shedd's nomination was held up last month when civil rights groups, led by the National Assn. for the Advancement...

Campbell responds to ads Michelle Mahfoufi / The Times Posted on October 31, 2002 With election day less than a week away, Public Service Commission candidate Foster Campbell urged the race for the North Louisiana seat to return to issues pertinent to the job of regulating utility rates and services. His comments, made in a news conference at his campaign headquarters Wednesday, were prompted by the round of attack ads that have littered both sides of the campaign since early September. In one ad, incumbent Don Owen refers to an accident in which Campbell lost an eye after driving around...

PSC candidates debate issues in public forum Michelle Mahfoufi / The Times Posted on September 25, 2002 Jim Crowley couldn't think of a better place than Broadmoor Presbyterian Church to hold Tuesday's forum featuring the 5th District Public Service Commission candidates. "I need all the prayers I can get," Crowley, a Shreveport independent running for a PSC post for the third time, told the crowd of three dozen. He joined candidates William "Rod" Guy, Foster Campbell and incumbent Don Owen for an hourlong question-and-answer session during which residents were as concerned about how a pending war on Iraq will affect...

From the September 9, 2002 Dallas Morning News: If Republicans win back the Senate, the administration should give Priscilla Owen another chance. by Terry Eastland 09/10/2002 12:00:00 AM Terry Eastland, publisher ONCE UPON A TIME, another judicial nomination failed. It was 1987, and the nominee for the Supreme Court was Robert Bork. Some supporters came up with a button they sported on their chests. "Reappoint Bork," it said. That, of course, never was going to happen and technically couldn't have, given that Bork hadn't received the Senate approval needed to effect his appointment. "Renominate" would have been the correct verb...

Priscilla Owen returns to the Texas Supreme Court bloodied by a Senate confirmation process for federal judicial nominees that has become an ideological killing ground.Owen's qualifications are estimable, but that mattered not at all to the 10 Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats who rejected her for her conservative leanings. "I don't think it was done with any ill will," said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., apparently with a straight face.President Bush has now lost his last two hearings to fill vacancies on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi was rejected for the...

     For Immediate Release 9/5/2002 Contact: Nathan Richter 202-467-4999 Owen Rejected Senate Judiciary Committee sends clear message to President Bush: right-wing judicial activists will not be confirmed The Senate Judiciary Committee today rejected President George W. Bush's nomination of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "Owen's record is that of a judge who has spent her career trying to make law rather than abide by her obligation to interpret it," said People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas. "Her own colleagues on the conservative Texas Supreme Court, including those...