Posted on 12/06/2003 12:42:09 AM PST by bdeaner
Groups Claim NAACP Rigged Michigan Affirmative Action Case
By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
December 5, 2003
WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Several groups, including the African-American leadership network Project 21, are asking the Virginia State Bar to investigate the role of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in an alleged scheme to ensure the outcome of the landmark University of Michigan affirmative action case.
The allegations came after Senate Judiciary Committee memos were obtained by the Wall Street Journal that detailed contacts NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund president and director-counsel Elaine R. Jones had with the office of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) on April 17, 2002 that sought to delay the confirmation of judicial nominees to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals until after that court decided on a challenge to the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy. According to the memo, Jones -- who was participating in the case -- was concerned that if a new judge is confirmed before the case is decided, "that new judge will be able ... to review the case and vote on it."
The complaint charges that Ms. Jones "violated both the spirit and letter of the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct when she intentionally acted to influence and disrupt an impartial tribunal that was then in the deliberative process of considering a landmark constitutional case in which she was counsel to one of the parties."
Project 21 member Gregory Parker of New Braunfels, Texas said, "Now we know that this judicial obstructionism is part of a carefully orchestrated plan by a few senators and left-wing special interest groups."
Judicial Watch, a government watchdog group, filed ethics complaints against Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) for "an outrageous act that brings enormous disgrace upon the Senate." In addition to the plan to stack the affirmative action case, the memos describe opposition to the nomination of Miguel Estrada "because he is Latino."
Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary, said, "The Democrats are hoping they can deflect attention away from the content of these memos because of the damning information contained within. But it is in the public interest for taxpaying citizens to see just how much influence is exerted by these groups on Senators."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told Talon News, "These memos prove what we have suspected for a long time, that these special interest groups call the tune, and the Democrats dance."
"At minimum, it's judge shopping," Cornyn added. "The ethics questions that arise on superficial scrutiny just boggle the mind."
Cornyn, a former Texas Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice, denounced the NAACP's actions saying, "The whole idea that someone would try to block the confirmation of a presidential appointee to the federal bench so that they could have the judges they want to decide the case in a particular manner is astounding."
He continued, "This case affects the entire nation in terms of whether we have a colorblind constitution or whether we will be a race conscious society where certain preferences are handed out based on where you come from and the color of your skin. That is what was at stake here and apparently [the NAACP] were successful."
Cornyn warned, "The American people should know what is at stake and who is pulling the strings in the United States Senate to block a fair up or down vote on President Bush's highly qualified nominees and the kind of crass calculations that are going on."
Of course not! The big news is that the cover story used to protect the life of our President may have included someone telling a pilot that Air Force One was a Gulfstream. Oh, the lies!!
< SARCASM > (...as if it were necessary...)
I thought the rules were changed so that an outside group couldn't file ethics charges.
The question I want answered is why aren't any of the 51 Republicans in the senate filing ethics charges against kennedy and durbin? They have them dead to rights. Should be a slam dunk.
Why not, indeed?
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