Another Janet Reno Mini-Me
Posted on 02/04/2002 11:41:47 AM PST by kattracks
CNSNews.com) - Federal Judge Gladys Kessler ruled Monday in favor of Victoria Wilson and against President Bush's most recent appointment to replace Wilson on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Peter Kirsanow.
The Justice Department said it will appeal the judge's ruling.
At issue is whether federal law allows Wilson to serve a full six-year stint on the panel, or only the unexpired portion of Higginbotham's term to which she was appointed.
The 1983 law reauthorizing the USCCR specifically limited commissioners appointed to fill unexpired terms to the remaining length of the original term. A 1994 reauthorization law did not include that language. However, it also included no contradictory provisions.
Commissioners serve six-year terms and Bush had no vacancy to fill, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said.
The Justice Department had filed a lawsuit on Dec. 7 seeking to have Peter Kirsanow seated on the commission. The department said that a 2000 appointment by then-President Clinton had expired.
``The court has upheld the independence of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights,'' Commission Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry said. ``If they can tell us what to do on one thing, they can tell us what to do on something else.''
Attorney Robb Kellner, who represents Kirsanow, said he expects the Justice Department to quickly appeal the ruling.
Kirsanow, of Cleveland, was appointed to replace Victoria Wilson, an ally of Berry.
Berry and four other commissioners on the eight-member civil rights panel contend Wilson should serve a six-year term. The Bush administration and the three Republican-appointed commissioners say Wilson's term expired Nov. 29 at the end of the term of the commissioner she replaced -- the late Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr.
The case pitted the White House and Justice Department against Berry, who is often critical of the civil rights record of federal agencies and who was harshly critical of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, for his handling of the 2000 presidential elections.
The Bush administration has said appointing Kirsanow is required by law and maintains a partisan balance that was intended by Congress when it set up procedures to replace commissioners.
The White House appointment of Kirsanow would shift the commission's makeup from a 5-3 split that generally favors Berry to a 4-4 split.
The commission has no enforcement power, but publicizes civil rights problems it perceives in government policy and government agencies.
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Appointed by Klintoon
I take that back - not enough said. It is truly a sad blight on our judicial system that nearly every decision these days comes down on political lines. The system is broken, I am afraid.
This is a disappointment for the Bushies. Hope they appeal it.
With liberal judges it isn't a matter of reading the law. It's about achieving the "correct" ends.
Just what the is the color of the sky on these liberal idiot's planet?!? (me thinks it be commie pinko red!)
Another Janet Reno Mini-Me
"Before President Clinton named her to the federal bunch in 1995 at age 57, Gladys Kessler had worked for the National Labor Relations Board in the Kennedy administration, for left-wing Rep. Jonathan Bingham of the Bronx, as a labor lawyer for the New York City Board of Education and finally for 17 years as a superior court judge in D.C. appointed by President Jimmy Carter."
Was she a Carter or Clinton appointee? (A distinction without a difference)
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