Free Republic

CONFIRMATION POLITICS Although freshman Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar has removed his hold on the nomination, former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray is still being blocked by Democrats for confirmation as U.S. ambassador to the European Union. The unidentified senator now imposing the hold is believed to be Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who did not return this column's call. The objection to Gray is a 2-year-old television ad by Gray's Committee for Justice accusing senators of blocking the confirmation of Judge William Pryor because he is Catholic. A footnote: Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Negroponte last Tuesday wrote...

All 55 Senate Republicans are expected to vote for John Roberts' confirmation as Supreme Court chief justice next week. The 44 Democrats are less unified. Democrats who have announced their support for Roberts (8): Bill Nelson of Florida, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Max Baucus of Montana, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Kent Conrad of North Dakota. Democrats who voted for Roberts on the Judiciary Committee (3): Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.

For most of our nation's history, anti-Catholicism has been an acceptable prejudice.... The reaction to President Bush's nomination of John Roberts... suggests that not so much has changed.... Many political analysts have concluded that this intolerance began to subside after JFK's election. Catholics, they argue, have been assimilated into American society and are now accepted into middle- and upper-class enclaves, corporate board rooms and the public square. Yet, while many Catholics have advanced economically since 1960, a deep-rooted animus remains against Catholics in public life who practice their faith. ...Schumer ignored the Constitution's Article 6 ("no religious Test shall ever...

Federal appeals Judge William H. Pryor Jr., whose fierce opposition to abortion prompted a two-year fight over his Senate confirmation, said Wednesday that "it'd certainly be wrong for a Catholic lawyer or judge to do something to advance a grave evil like abortion."

'We are not on some fishing expedition here at all to derail the Bolton nomination," Sen. Christopher Dodd, with his customary half-smile in place, told the Senate on Thursday. But that is exactly what the crafty Democrat is doing -- with success so far. He has maneuvered John R. Bolton's confirmation to be U.S. ambassador into desperate straits. Dodd's unreported speech to an empty Senate before it adjourned for another long weekend was classic senatorial misdirection. He held out the prospect of ending the filibuster against Bolton and quickly confirming him, if only more information were given Democratic senators. Yet,...

Senate deal is done: Three judges are confirmed The Associated Press June 10, 2005 6:01AM WASHINGTON - The GOP-controlled Senate approved former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor and Michigan nominees David McKeague and Richard Griffin Thursday for seats on the U.S. Appeals Court, completing an unprecedented run of long-delayed judicial confirmations. With a vote of 53-45, Pryor was approved for 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Atlanta-based court that handles federal appeals from Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Griffin was confirmed 95-0 and McKeague 96-0, both for seats on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. ''These three nominees...

Rush 24/7 is a helluva good site. I don't want to deprive Rush of income, so I am going to redact (edit) some of his commentary and still get the idea across. For those of you wondering if you should do it, spend $6.95 for one month and see if you agree. I think this is worth hearing, because it fits my opinion pretty accurately. Rush says: "All right, folks, I want to start off here with the judge deal. I'm starting to see some giddiness out there from people on our side that these judges are being confirmed this...

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday confirmed California judge Janice Rogers Brown for the federal appeals court, ending a two-year battle filled with accusations of racism and sexism and shadowed by a dispute over Democratic blocking tactics. Senators quickly followed by ending another long-term filibuster, clearing the way for a vote Thursday on former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor as outlined in an agreement last month that averted a showdown that could have brought Senate action to a halt.After giving Pryor a final vote and confirming two Michigan nominees to other appeals court posts, senators plan to leave President Bush's...

A year ago things looked bleak for the confirmation of former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor. He had given up a new term as the popular Attorney General of Alabama when the President offered him a recess appointment. Democrats and pro-abortion and gay rights groups vehemently opposed his nomination, attempting (albeit unsuccessfully) to smear his good name and reputation. Ted Kennedy, et al. challenged his appointment all the way to the Supreme Court. With the filibuster in place, Judge Pryor was one of the least likely nominees to be confirmed because of his principled pro-life stand. Who can forget Judge...

CAPITOL HILL The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the last of four hotly disputed judicial nominees on a party line vote. The ten-to-eight vote sends acting appeals court Judge William Pryor's nomination to the Senate. Democrats blocked his nomination in President Bush's last term. But Bush gave him a temporary seat on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta with a recess appointment. They've vowed to filibuster Pryor and three other Bush nominees this time around, too. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has threatened to disallow future filibusters and force a vote on Pryor and the others. Democrats say...

One more reason in a long history that judicial appointments will not solve the problem of leftist judges and judicial tyranny was seen on Mar. 23, 2005, in the request for emergency rehearing of the 11th Circuit en banc of the case of Schiavo v. Schiavo when George W. Bush recess appointment William H. Pryor, Jr., voted AGAINST rehearing. Rather than joining in the cogent and spirited dissent of Judge Tjoflat or associating himself with the dissent of Judge Wilson (a Clinton appointee) in the original three-judge panel, he voted with the majority in the 10-2 denial of rehearing. Judge...

Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.) plans to usher judicial nominee William H. Pryor, Jr. through his committee without a new hearing, a committee aide told HUMAN EVENTS Monday. Senate Democrats blocked Pryor in two filibusters in July and November 2003. In an effort to circumvent the Democrats' opposition, President Bush gave Pryor a recess appointment to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 20, 2004. The appointment expires at the end of 2005 when Congress adjourns. Since taking his seat on the 11th Circuit, Pryor has authored "progressive" and "moderate" opinions, Specter said at a February 24...

Pryor Impressions Alabamans want to know why Bill Pryor is being filibustered in the Senate. BY QUIN HILLYER Thursday, March 3, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST MOBILE, Ala.--If judicial nominations represent the spear-point of all of the partisan battles in Washington, former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor is the poison on the spear. Judge Pryor, whose renomination to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals could get a Senate hearing as early as March 9, has become a folk hero to conservatives nationwide while drawing fierce denunciations from liberal editorial pages. Come to Alabama, though, and the cognoscenti from all shades of...

Washington, D.C. - Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement regarding the pending nomination of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a federal appeals court judgship: "I am voting in the affirmative to send Attorney General Pryor to the floor reserving my final decision until the vote by the full Senate. As indicated in my questioning of the nominee at the Committee hearing, there are a number of areas of concern in his record. Since that hearing, an additional issue has arisen on campaign contributions. Before the floor vote, I intend...

With three weeks to Election Day, it is time for Republicans to close the deal with swing voters -- independents, Southern and Midwestern moderates, blue-collar households, Catholics, and Hispanics. The tactics of Senate Democrats and their liberal allies are now so nakedly partisan that the judiciary could well become the issue that wins tight Senate races and presidential battleground states for the GOP. (A secondary benefit of campaigning on this issue is that it establishes a clear "judiciary mandate" -- an advantage when addressing the Senate's rule for filibusters and a bonus when the time comes to nominate a Supreme...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Edward Kennedy is trying for the third time to persuade the colleagues of federal appellate Judge William Pryor to bump him from the bench. The Massachusetts Democrat is asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to rule that President Bush's appointment of Pryor in February during a congressional recess was unconstitutional. "Immediate consideration of this issue is critical: Judge Pryor has already sat or is scheduled to sit on over 60 cases, all of which may have to be reheard and re-decided if his appointment is ultimately adjudged invalid," Kennedy said in a...

Sen. Edward Kennedy Loses Bid to Get Bill Pryor off Federal Bench Associated Press Jun 11, 2004 ATLANTA (AP) - Sen. Edward Kennedy lost a legal challenge to President Bush's appointment of former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor to a federal appeals judgeship. Pryor's appointment has been vigorously opposed by Democratic senators who have objected to his past comments and writings on abortion and homosexuality. After the Senate failed to confirm Pryor's appointment, Bush installed him on the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals on Feb. 20 as a "recess appointment," which does not require Senate confirmation. In a challenge filed...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Edward Kennedy is trying to file a "friend of the court," or amicus, brief that argues that the recess appointment of Judge William Pryor Jr. was unconstitutional, according to a new court document. The request was sent Wednesday to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Adefemi v. Ashcroft, which challenges a Board of Immigration Appeals (search) decision that the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service had enough evidence to deport Adefemi, a citizen of Nigeria, on a firearms offense. The case is set for arguments in front of the full court, or "en banc,"...

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) chastised Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on Tuesday for sending a letter to a district court questioning the constitutionality of a recent recess appointment made by President George W. Bush. As previously reported by Talon News, Bush exercised his constitutional authority to appoint a half dozen judicial nominees which had been filibustered by the Democratic minority in the U.S. Senate on February 20. One of these appointments included Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor Jr., who was named to fill a vacancy on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is over federal court appeals from Alabama,...

Judicial Panel Named in Case to Overturn Roe v. Wade Abortion Decision New Orleans, LA (LifeNews.com) -- A three-judge panel has been named by the federal appeals court that will hear Norma McCorvey's case to overturn the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. Once named, the judges immediately declared that they will not hear oral arguments in the case. The panel consists of Judge Edith Holland Jones, Judge Edward Prado of San Antonio, and Judge Jacques L. Wiener of Shreveport, Louisiana. The judges say they do not need to hear oral arguments in order to rule on McCorvey's motion, which...