Free Republic

She’s not a senator, but Cynthia Nance plays an enormous role in shaping the debate over some of President Trump’s judicial picks. Ms. Nance, former dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law, handles the American Bar Association’s judicial ratings for nominees to federal courts in North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas, which make up the federal 8th Circuit. The ABA’s role is one the more opaque parts of the process, but Republicans are pushing it into the light, accusing her of allowing personal bias, particularly a fealty to abortion rights, to color her ratings....

A few days ago, Sen. Frist said that — if Democrats delay the Alito nomination past January 20 — then Frist would cancel the week-long recess that was scheduled to begin soon thereafter. Senate Democrats have now decided to delay past January 20 (contrary to a previous agreement), and so the Washington Post reports: Frist announced that … he would cancel a week-long Senate vacation next week — a step that he took yesterday, according to his chief of staff, Eric Ueland. Ueland said last night that Frist planned to start debate over Alito in the full Senate on Jan....

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has received a "well qualified" rating from the American Bar Association. The ABA Wednesday said its 15-member Standing committee voted unanimously, with one recusal, to give Alito the group's highest rating. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is set to convene hearings on Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court Tuesday. President George Bush selected Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who said in July she wished to retire. Abortion rights activists, environmental rights supporters and minority groups have expressed concern about Alito's nomination based on his previous writing. Democratic...

Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. has vigorously defended freedom of expression, adopting a stance that places him among a group of conservative judges with a libertarian streak. Judge Alito's broad reading of the freedom of speech and press clauses of the First Amendment stands in contrast with his narrower interpretation of other constitutional rights, including the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and the Sixth Amendment's guarantees of fair trial rights for criminal defendants. Judge Alito, President Bush's choice for the Supreme Court, has found First Amendment violations in a school board's antiharassment policy, in a ban on liquor advertisements...