Posted on 03/03/2007 1:36:04 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
.....New York has an unusual system for picking lower court judges. Giuliani could only nominate judges from a pool of candidates recommended by a selection commission, meaning his hands were pretty well tied. As president, they said, Giuliani would nominate solid judicial conservatives.
...Giuliani himself has said he wants to nominate justices like Roberts and Alito, Scalia and Thomas. ...praising those conservative stalwarts for the “intellectual honesty with which they interpret the law.” And this week, he tapped prominent conservative Washington lawyer Theodore Olson, his old friend from their days in the Reagan Justice Department, to chair his Judicial Advisory Council, heading up a team of lawyers advising him on judges and other legal issues.
....Olson said Giuliani is “absolutely” committed to nominating solid judicial conservatives, and he pointed to his leadership role in the Reagan administration, which nominated a slew of appellate judges who would become conservative icons: Scalia, Bork, Winter, Easterbrook.
Hmmm…but wasn’t he there for the O’Connor nomination, too?
“That was more closely held,” Olson said, adding he didn’t know if Giuliani even knew about it. “I only learned about that a day or so before it was announced.”
... let’s try a different approach. How’s this for a litmus test: Would Rudy Giuliani nominate someone like Janice Rogers Brown—a staunch conservative, beloved by many on the Right and reviled by those on the Left?
Olson didn’t hesitate.
“Yes,” he said. “I think he’d be impressed with her whole life story, her talent, her education--the way she pulled herself up from a very modest beginning, the inspiration her life would give to people—on top of her talent.”
But would he be willing to wage the fight a Brown nomination would provoke?
“Absolutely,” Olson said. “Rudy has never walked away from a fight.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.abcnews.com ...
"the debate on the existence of global warming "is almost unnecessary ... because we should be dealing with pollution anyway."
"but it doesn't really recommend solutions"
Yup, he's for fixing global warming (some of it may actually be caused by human activity, y'know, so can be cured by human activity - may have to sign onto Kyoto to cure it).
That was part of Rudy Giuliani's personal approach to governing.
If he had gone out and ignored New York City's judicial nomination process the same way he ignored the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Federal immigration reform law of 1996, he just might have some credibility when he stands up today and tries to convince us that he'd nominate conservative Federal judges.
"I meant that being liberal doesn't make one incapable of judging fairly"
In terms of the federal courts it is unlikely liberals would be in the "originalist" camp as Jim recommends. Judging fairly is not a form of judicial philosophy. Whether an opinon is fair or not is in the eye of the beholder.
I don't know but energy, environmentalism, oil, etc, are all big profitable businesses for Giuliani and partners:
Giuliani-Come-Lately
Giuliani joins law firm renowned for defending energy interests
By Amanda Griscom Little
08 Apr 2005
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- whose name is often bandied about as a possible 2008 GOP presidential contender -- added a splash of deep red to his moderate-Republican profile when he announced last week his decision to join a Texas-based law firm known for representing heavy-hitting energy companies.
Enron, ChevronTexaco, Pacific Gas & Electric, Dynegy, and Southern Company are among the many powerhouses on the client roster of Bracewell & Giuliani -- formerly Bracewell & Patterson. Having negotiated billions of dollars in transactions for fossil-fuel and power-generation facilities, and having defended some of those same clients against charges of illegal pollution, Bracewell has earned a reputation as one of the most powerful law firms in the energy sector
~snip~
The firm is equally potent on the D.C. lobbying front. It is Bracewell, for instance, that represents the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council -- a huge coalition of utilities including Southern Company and First Energy that lobbies for industry-friendly policies. And it is Bracewell that employs Scott Segal and Frank Maisano, the two most ubiquitous voices in the media representing energy-industry interests -- most recently advocating reform of the Clean Air Act's new-source review provision, passage of the Clear Skies Act, and implementation of the Bush administration's plan for dealing with mercury emissions from power plants.
Maisano and Segal were brimming with delight over the announcement. "It's always flattering that one of your name partners is considered a man of presidential timbre," Segal told Muckraker. Added Maisano, "Giuliani is a master lawyer and towering public figure ... He's going to help expand Bracewell's reputation nationally and internationally."
~snip~
And Giuliani is not new to the business of representing energy companies. His consulting company, Giuliani Partners, which he founded post-9/11, was hired by Entergy Nuclear Northeast to help with security and emergency planning at its nuclear power plants, and by TransCanada and Shell to help smooth the way for their joint plan to build an offshore liquefied natural gas facility on Long Island Sound.
~snip~
http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2005/04/08/little-giuliani/
Giuliani's Business Links May Hurt Bid
Jan 10th - 7:53am
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - As Rudy Giuliani prepares to run for president, it is increasingly clear he will have to revamp the global businesses that bear his name and link him to everything from jogger backpacks to nuclear power plants.
The former New York City mayor has created an exploratory committee to prepare to run for president next year, and aides concede that competing for the nation's highest office will force major changes in how Giuliani handles his businesses.
"Obviously, there would have to be significant adjustments," said his spokeswoman Sunny Mindel. She did not elaborate.
Extricating himself from that work may be tough: His name is on the door, on the stationery, and on the minds of many of their clients.
It is largely through his post-Sept. 11 popularity that he built up Giuliani Partners LLP, which focuses on emergency preparedness, public safety and corporate governance, and Bracewell & Giuliani, a well-established D.C. law firm best known for its energy company clients.
"It's not just the companies, it's the global nature of his work and how much he has to travel to foreign countries when he really needs to be in this country raising money," said Steven Cohen, a Columbia University professor of politics.
~snip~
He also became a name partner in Bracewell & Giuliani, an international law firm with offices as far away as Kazakhstan.
While Giuliani is not a lobbyist _ he was brought into Bracewell largely to expand their presence into the lucrative New York market _ the firm's lobbying income spiked recently, from about $150,000 in 2004 to more than $6 million in 2005.
The more Giuliani's name is mentioned in national politics, the more his ties to Bracewell become a headache for both him and the company, particularly at a time when industry's influence on lawmakers has led to corruption cases and public disgust.
Officials at the law firm declined to comment about Giuliani's position there.
Much of Giuliani's recent corporate work could become future political hurdles in a presidential race: energy companies are unpopular in a country still adjusting to the higher cost of gasoline and other fuels, and Giuliani has staked out the controversial position that the United States should build more nuclear power plants to meet its energy demands. The firm's client roster could also open him to attacks that he was aligned with corporate polluters even if he didn't represent all the companies directly.
He's also authored a report, commissioned by the drug industry, that concluded importing cheaper prescription drugs from Canada is too dangerous _ a claim rejected by many states, including politically critical Florida, where the new Republican governor favors importation.
"Yes, there are going to be people that say he represented energy companies and that's all he cares about, but I don't think they're right," said Phyllis Kelly, a Republican National Committeewoman from Iowa, where caucuses traditionally launch the nomination process.
"I don't know what all his businesses were, but I like people who know something about business, and I know Giuliani is an honorable person," she said.
Cohen argued Giuliani's businesses will not make him unique in 2008 because all the candidates will have to cozy up to industry to finance their campaigns.
"It's not just him, it's all of the candidates," Cohen said. "The real problem is that in order to run for president you need over $100 million and that can only come from powerful economic interests."
~snip~
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=125&sid=1028322
Rudy Inc., or Rudy sink?
Mayor's client roster could hurt '08 hopes
BY DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
Rudy Giuliani never shrank from defending his image as mayor, but as a businessman he's gone a step further - even trademarking his own name, the Daily News has learned.
The unusual step, revealed in a recent Giuliani company contract obtained by The News, states under the heading "Use of Mr. Giuliani's Name" that the "trade names and trademarks 'Rudolph Giuliani,' or 'Giuliani Partners LLC' . . . shall not be used . . . without prior written consent."
Doing anything that "tarnishes, degrades, disparages or reflects adversely on the Giuliani" name, it adds, will be grounds for terminating the contract.
As Giuliani now ponders a run for the White House, the document underscores what has become a central question of his candidacy - how will the former mayor's roster of mostly private business clients play when viewed through the harsh prism of presidential campaign politics?
It is clearly something the mayor's own people are worried about: In a list of potential "problems" written inside a Giuliani campaign dossier and obtained by The News last week from a source sympathetic to a rival campaign, the word "business" appears at the top of the list, above even his ex-wife, Donna Hanover.
Apparently, Giuliani's own aides are already imagining the negative ads that could spring from his business dealings.
In the five years that Giuliani has worked in the private sector, his clients have run the gamut, from gambling interests like the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which may further trouble Christian conservative voters, to large power-generators like the Atlanta-based Southern Co., which environmentalists regard as among the worst polluters in the nation.
He has lent his name to every corner of the energy industry - representing nuclear, oil and natural gas concerns - and worked with the pharmaceutical industry to keep cheap prescription drugs from flowing into the U.S. from Canada.
And that's just what is publicly known.
Giuliani Partners and its subsidiaries are all privately held companies, and the former mayor has refused to release a full client list - making a clear analysis of his net worth impossible, and very likely raising disclosure questions, should he run for President.
"We are reviewing that right now," Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel said last week when asked if the former mayor planned to release his client list. "But I would reiterate that voters are sophisticated enough to distinguish between public sector and private sector, and they know leadership when they see it."
Forbes magazine estimates that the mayor's companies have reaped "tens of millions of dollars" in contracts, to say nothing of the mayor's estimated $8 million in annual speaking fees and his $3 million in book advances.
His empire includes the flagship Giuliani Partners LLC, a corporate consulting firm, and Giuliani Safety & Security, which has provided security advice to everyone from the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester County to the government-backed Asian Games in Qatar, a Middle East emirate.
In 2005, Giuliani also became a named partner at Bracewell & Giuliani, a Texas-based law firm with a large legal and lobbying arm, much of which is aimed at protecting coal- and oil-burning electrical plants from further government regulation, experts say.
"There were a lot of eyebrows raised in Washington when Mr. Giuliani decided to become a named partner, because Bracewell really does represent some of the most notorious polluters in the U.S.," said Natural Resources Defense Council clean air director John Walke.
Bracewell officials declined to comment but have long argued that their clients are dedicated to providing clean, affordable power.
At the top of this corporate empire is Giuliani himself, whose image as "America's Mayor" has proven as bankable financially as it is politically. "Business is excellent," said Michael Hess, the senior managing director of Giuliani Partners and a former city corporation counsel under Giuliani. "Almost all of our engagements have worked out beautifully."
~snip~
http://www.nydailynews.com/01-07-2007/news/story/486423p-409552c.html
March 01, 2007 01:43 PM Eastern Time
Bracewell & Giuliani Advises Cintra in First Privatization of Toll Road in Texas
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bracewell & Giuliani LLP advised Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A., a Spanish transportation company, in its successful bid to develop State Highway 121 into a toll road through Collin and Denton counties. The award to Cintra, approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, is the first privatization of a Texas toll road.
Bracewell is acting as project counsel to Cintra with respect to the 50-year concession from the Texas Department of Transportation for which Cintra will pay a $2.1 billion upfront and annual lease payments totaling $700 million.
Three firms have competed for the Comprehensive Development Agreement for State Highway 121 since last summer. The proposals were reviewed and scored based on selection criteria set forth by the Regional Transportation Council, the metropolitan planning agency for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
"Cintra was awarded this project because of its proven expertise and competitive proposal," said Thomas O. Moore, partner with Bracewell & Giuliani. "This is the largest transportation deal of 2007. This is one of only five deals in the country."
This CDA is a public-private partnership that allows the provider to handle all facets of developing the toll road, including completing construction and operating and maintaining the corridor.
~snip~
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070301005895&newsLang=en
Bracewell & Giuliani Advises Econergy International on Investments in Four Latin American Renewable Energy Projects
HOUSTON-(Business Wire)-February 27, 2007 - Attorneys from Bracewell & Giuliani LLP's renewable energy and Latin American practice groups recently advised Econergy International PLC, a clean energy and carbon developer, on investments in four Latin American renewable energy projects: the Beberibe wind energy project and the Areia Branca and Pipoca hydroelectric projects in Brazil, as well as the Laja hydroelectric project in Chile.
Bracewell assisted Econergy International in signing a $25.8 million investment agreement with Cataventos and Enventure Partners to develop Beberibe, a 25.5 megawatt wind energy project in the state of Ceara, Brazil. Under the terms of the agreement, Econergy International will own 80 percent of the project, which is expected to begin operating in January 2008 and generate more than 92,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy power per year.
Additionally, Bracewell also assisted Econergy with investments in two 20 megawatt hydroelectric projects in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil: the Areia Branca project and the Pipoca project, which are both slated to begin operating in September 2008. All three of the Brazilian projects are part of federal or state renewable energy programs under which government-owned banks will provide construction financing and government-owned electric utilities will purchase the electric output from these projects for a period of at least 20 years. Econergy is already funding the continued development of Areia Branca.
"These Brazilian investments are the first of their kind for Econergy in Brazil and add to an expanding portfolio for the company as it explores opportunities for future investments," said Benjamin Israel, partner with Bracewell & Giuliani.
In addition to the Brazilian projects, Bracewell's team led negotiations with Alberto Matthei & Hijos as part of Econergy's first transaction in the Chilean market. Econergy has committed to invest $9 million for 50 percent ownership in the 25 megawatt Laja hydroelectric project, which is expected to generate an average of 140,000 megawatt-hours of energy and 69,000 Certified Emissions Reductions per year. Laja is one of the first new construction projects in Chile that does not rely on fossil fuel and has been hailed as the first of a new series of investments that will reduce Chile's dependence upon foreign-owned natural gas, oil and coal. The project is expected to enter into commercial operations in the third quarter of 2008.
Econergy International, which has offices in the United States, Brazil and Mexico, currently has 40 clean energy projects underway throughout Latin America that are able to sell carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism. In addition, Econergy also takes equity stakes in projects which yield carbon credits, like wind power, small-scale hydro, bagasse cogeneration and other forms of clean energy.
~snip~
http://digital50.com/news/items/BW/2001/07/14/20070227006123/bracewell-giuliani-advises-econergy-international-on-investments-in-four-latin-amer.html
Attorneys Bracewell & Giuliani's January Closings in Kazakhstan Total US $1.625 Billion
Posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007
ALMATY, Kazakhstan-- LAWFUEL - Law News, US Law Firms --Bracewell & Giuliani LLP closed three cases in January for a total of US $1.625 billion, acting as international counsel for the offering of corporate debt and solidifying their place as the premier legal authority on Kazakhstani business affairs in the Caspian region.
“We continue to thrive and grow in Kazakhstan, mirroring the country itself,” said Greg Vojack, managing partner for the firm's offices in Kazakhstan. “As Kazakhstan transitions into a prosperous free marketplace after the fall of Soviet Russia, its fine-tuned monetary policies are helping the country’s financial sectors grow faster than New York.”
~snip~
Established in 1994, Bracewell's presence in the Republic of Kazakhstan has helped clients capture significant opportunities in the Caspian Region.
The firm's energy and finance attorneys provided groundbreaking guidance to create the legal and financial infrastructure in that emerging nation and today actively advise energy and financial companies in the region and the government of Kazakhstan.
Since 2003, Chambers Global has noted the firm and the managing partner of its Kazakhstan offices as the Caspian Region's leaders in corporate/commercial work.
“We are in the best position now that we’ve ever been,” said Vojack. “This is an exciting time for Kazakhstan, and we are thrilled to be a part of its expansion and wealth consolidation.”
~snip~
http://lawfuel.com/show-release.asp?ID=10825
etc, etc, etc,
Google giuliani bracewell (web and or news)
This is precisely why so many people here find Rudy Giuliani's stance on gun control so damn repulsive.
I hate to break this to you, but the whole purpose of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is that it gives people the ability to protect themselves from their own government when there's no "someone" to promote.
Here is the positive things we know about Rudy.
He is technically a political outsider detached from the sewer that is D.C.
He is a tough law and order guy who believes that whatever the law may be it is his job to make sure it is enforced.
He truly loves the US and what it stands for.
He is a tax cutter and a capitalist.
I believe, because of his background in law enforcement he would be tougher on Mexico and demand they reform. Building a fence is fine and cameras are fine but corruption in Mexico and their weakness in dealing with the drug traffickers is a major problem for us. Rudy is not from a border state so he doesn't have the baggage of Bush in this particular issue.
I believe Rudy would appoint constructionist judges. He is not known as a liar and if he says Alito and Scalia types and Ted Olsen backs him then I believe him.
I believe because of his experience in dealing with low life criminals and knowing their mindset, he would be extremely effective in handling the tin pot dictators who rise to power by killing all their opposition. I believe he would be more like Cheney than Bush and far better than Clinton, who views all leaders as equals.
Something that sticks in my mind was seeing an interview with Bill Richardson describing a meeting with Saddam. Richardson was sweating and giddy as he described how he tried to act tough but also make sure he didn't show the soles of his feet "because thats an insult in the Arab world". All I could think was " Cheney would have kicked his feet up on the coffee table, lit a cigar and told Saddam how it was going to be. Rudy would tell these types "how its going to be."
Ah, but the technology does exist. We just need to convince illegal aliens to wear these little collars so we can zap them when they try to cross the border.
Nonsensical double speak, Sir. Diluting the meaning of 'War on Terror' does the real GWOT a great disservice. Rudy's not socially conservative, but he's fiscally conservative, and would be very strong on defense. Defense meaning "the real GWOT", not your "domestic politics I don't like are terrorism" line.
Arguing that his election would be a capitulation to the left doesn't hold water.
That assumes that one accepts your premise. As I have stated, and for reasons which I have also stated, I do not. Secondly, the best way to stop Rudy is to have a superior candidate waiting in the wings. There has to be a place for votes to go to other than a vacuum. <
2) It's a bit early yet to be settling on one particular prospective nominee. Gotta lot of debating, researching and ruling out to go yet. Plus there are still more hopefuls deciding to join the race.
Then one would hope we would see more "Draft (Insert Name Here)" threads and petitions going. Time is running out - rather like Christmas, the campaign season begins earlier and earlier. Rather like Christmas, the fund raising requirements go higher and higher. Any candidate needs to get out there as soon as possible, particularly since so many candidates have declared already.
Ivan
At the beginning of this article, it is pointed out clearly that Giuliani was constrained in who he could appoint. Secondly, yes, we are talking about New York! It's really rather funny how people expect that one can apply, say, Alabama Conservatism to the same city that hosts Columbia University.
I will therefore do everything I can to see that he goes down to defeat in the primaries.
I hope to see you promoting your candidate with as much vigour as you use to make your dislike for Giuliani clear, and may the best man win.
Ivan
However, this idea that the Second Amendment is a bulwark against an overintrusive government is not bourne out by the facts - being armed will not stop the FBI, as the people in Waco found out. An individual with a rifle or handgun is simply outgunned by the weaponry available to law enforcement. As such, the most likely avenue for change is going to be through the institutions of representative government, not through armed insurrection. You're not French, after all.
Ivan
And altered at whim it was, 7 months into his start as mayor.
Perhaps a Souter?
Giving illegals public housing, social security, free college tuition, affirmative action for illegals from Mexico in citizenship, bankrupting both public and private health institutions and filling our prisons with them is not fiscally conservative.
Strong on defense means securing our borders and supporting CITIZENS who want to defend themselves from invasion by criminal aliens. Strong on defense means enforcing immigration laws we already have. Terrorists were illegal aliens...
More Americans killed by illegal aliens than Iraq war, study says
For reference, here's the big #2.
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
It's unclear what Rudy's cryptic comment means in relation to the cryptic 2nd Amendment. Clearly, the Founding Fathers envisioned some level of regulation as being necessary to the security of a free State. I don't know what level Rudy envisions, and I suspect it's more than I'd care for, but you're inferring quite a bit out a statement that any Founding Father could have made.
Not quite as constrained as the spin. Actually, he had the means to do just about anything he wanted as mayor regarding appointing judges and or modifying or making the rules regarding same.
Read all, including the last link:
Ben Smith of Politico examines Rudy's picks and describes the judicial nomination system used in NYC:
A Politico review of the 75 judges Giuliani appointed to three of New York state's lower courts found that Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than 8 to 1. One of his appointments was an officer of the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Judges. Another ruled that the state law banning liquor sales on Sundays was unconstitutional because it was insufficiently secular.
A third, an abortion-rights supporter, later made it to the federal bench in part because New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a liberal Democrat, said he liked her ideology.
Cumulatively, Giuilani's record was enough to win applause from people like Kelli Conlin, the head of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, the state's leading abortion-rights group. "They were decent, moderate people," she said.
"I don't think he was looking for someone who was particularly conservative," added Barry Kamins, a Democrat who chaired the panel of the Bar Association of the City of New York, which reviewed Giuliani's appointments. "He picked a variety from both sides of the spectrum. They were qualified, even-tempered, academically strong."
(lots more at the link)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0207/2957.html
Also from the above link:
When Giuliani took office in 1994, he inherited a system of judicial appointments created by one of his predecessors, Ed Koch, and designed to insulate the courts from political influence. Under the system, the mayor appoints members of an independent panel. Aspiring judges apply to the panel, which recommends three candidates for each vacancy. The mayor chooses among the three.
Giuliani spokesperson Bill Simon does not dispute the record of liberal appointments, but does try to spin away the inherited system:
"I asked Simon about the recent issue with judges. The Politico posted an article on Rudy's track record on judicial nominations, and reported that Giuliani appointed more Democrats than Republicans to the bench as Mayor. Hower, Simon called this misleading. The mayor does not have a free hand in judicial appointments in New York City. An independent panel gives the mayor a choice of three candidates for each open seat, and the mayor has to select from those three. Rudy did not choose the candidates; he had to select one of three locked-in choices."
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/009295.php
Ben Smith of Politico rebuts Simon's spin:
March 01, 2007
Simon's Spin
Giuliani surrogate Bill Simon was at CPAC today offering a rebuttal of my story on Rudy's judges that, while it has some truth to its general outlines, doesn't really hold up.
Captain's Quarters has a version of his spin:
"Simon called [the article] misleading. The mayor does not have a free hand in judicial appointments in New York City. An independent panel gives the mayor a choice of three candidates for each open seat, and the mayor has to select from those three. Rudy did not choose the candidates; he had to select one of three locked-in choices."
Meanwhile, Giuliani backer Ted Olson told Hugh Hewitt that Rudy's "discretion was quite limited."
What Simon and Olson are referring to is the Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, the locus of a tradition of "merit selection" put in place by Ed Koch in 1978, a nice outline of which can be found on pages four and five of this document (.pdf). The system exists at the Mayor's whim, and can be altered at his whim, as it was by Giuliani.
Most broadly, the system isn't in the City Charter. It exists under executive order, which the mayor can revoke or alter at any time. Giuliani altered the prior executive order, shrinking the panel to 19 members.
As for the panel's "independence," it is, by recent tradition, quite independent. By design however, it's totally dependent on the Mayor. He appoints its chairman and 8 other members directly. He appoints the other 10 on the recommendation of law school deans and state appellate judges, a recommendation to which he is not bound.
Under Koch's model, the panel recommended three judges for each open seat; the Mayor was required to pick one. The Mayor also automatically reappointed any sitting judge approved by the panel for reappointment.
Giuliani broke with both of these traditions, permitting himself to reject all three, and occasionally refusing to reappoint a sitting judge. This was a huge deal in late 1995, and prompted a decisive break between Koch and Giuliani. The fight, though, was not about ideology; Giuliani cast it in terms of the "limited" intellect of one judge, and of ties to corrupt county political machines.
Obviously, Giuliani could have altered the system further had he wished, or ditched it entirely. (Bloomberg restored the Koch system in 2002.)
Another reason the notion that Rudy had his hands ties doesn't make sense: In other cases, Giuliani saw fit to tangle with panels on which he had less total statuatory control -- the Board of Education and the board of the City University of New York come to mind. In the case of the judiciary, he largely abided by the tradition.
And finally, as a matter of practice, the commission is basically controlled by its chairman and its executive director. Under Giuliani, the chairman was Paul Curran, a former Republican U.S. Attorney; its executive director was Paul Siegfried, a Democrat who had served in that position under other mayors and whose focus was qualifications, not ideology or judicial philosophy. Again, Giuliani could have replaced Siegfried, as Bloomberg did. He chose not to.
The bottom line is that Giuliani chose not to turn the courts, as he had other areas of city government, into a battle ground of ideology or reform. He appointed candidates in his own image -- law and order former prosecutors with liberal social views. He allowed the panel's chairman and executive director to do most of the work. He wasn't looking for a revolution in judicial philosophy, and didn't get one.
The strongest case here is simply that Giuliani says he'll appoint Scalia-like judges to the federal appellate courts, which are quite different from the local courts I wrote about. This may well be true. There's just nothing in his record to support it.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0307/Simons_Spin.html
Ted Olson says:
"Well, I think there are several things. In the first place, these were trial level, municipal type judges in New York City. Rudy had to select from people that were available, and had certain levels of compensation, I mean, certain levels of experience. Plus he was operating within a political system where his discretion was quite limited. It’s nothing like the process that he would take and had followed, indeed as you probably know he did, in the United States Justice Department when judges were being selected in the Reagan administration."
But read this from the page 5 of the link provided below:
However, upon taking office, Mayor Giuliani made several changes to the executive order. First, under the current executive order, the mayor is not required to appoint one of theCommittee’s initial nominees; he may request that the Committee submit the names of three additional candidates. Second, Mayor Giuliani instituted changes that have affected the composition of the Advisory Committee. Previously, the Committee consisted of 27 members, who were chosen, under the terms of the 1978 executive order, “with due consideration for broad community representation. The membership shall include men and women, lawyers and nonlawyers, and members of minority and other groups who are qualified to perform the functions of the Committee.” Mayor Giuliani’s changes to the executive order have reduced the Committee’s membership to 19, and have removed this “diversity clause.”
In addition, Mayor Giuliani has asserted a right to veto the Committee’s recommendations regarding reappointment of sitting judges when their terms expire. On a number of occasions, he has reappointed Criminal and Family Court judges for abbreviated terms, or has replaced them altogether, despite his Committee’s assessment that they had
performed their duties satisfactorily.
http://www.moderncourts.org/Publications/pdf/cmr/kingscnty.pdf
You were never a Royal Marine.
When I see post after post of trying to spin Rudy off as a conservative, and now posts trying to spin away his judicial appointment by what I consider outright lies, it is not helping, IMHO. Rudy does not have a social conservative bone in his body, and despite what Rudy may say, Rudy does not make a distinction between Scalia and Ginsburg. So Rudy tell us you will pick a conservative VP (someone like a Mike Pense), and tell us you will give him authority over judicial picks and Rudy will go along towards uniting the party and winning the general election.
There is? Yesterday reported from Stomboli, Italy, a volcano is spewing out red hot lava, few years ago it was Mount St. Helens and many in between.
That tells me, the core is cooling. One upshot is that the earth is cooling.
W's home in Crawford, pipes up 67degree heat from ~600ft down. How soon will they have to go deeper?
The militia is only well regulated by the People's right to keep and bear arms...
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.