Posted on 03/10/2004 9:52:35 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
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, Georgia, and Florida. In his letter released on Monday, Kennedy wrote that a "serious question exists as to whether Judge Pryor's recess appointment is constitutional." The high-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he wants the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether the appointment was legal or not. Kennedy contends in his letter that a recess appointment is only permissible "at the end of a Congress or the recess between the annual sessions of Congress." "No other Article III judge in the nation's history has ever received a recess appointment during a brief holiday period in the midst of a session of Congress," Kennedy wrote in an attached memo. By definition, an Article III judge includes those appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeal, and U.S. District Courts as well as International Trade courts. Kennedy requested that this be resolved prior to any court decisions being made that included Pryor. "The judges of the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit cannot and should not allow its upcoming cases to be tainted by the presence ... of a judge who may well be constitutionally or statutorily ineligible to sit," Kennedy exclaimed. Bush spokeswoman Erin Healy on Monday said the appointment of Pryor by the president was unquestionably constitutional. "The president properly exercised the power granted to him by the U.S. Constitution," she told the Associated Press. "Judge Pryor's appointment was thoroughly reviewed by the Department of Justice and is fully consistent with long standing practices of both Democrat and Republican administrations." Pryor is expected to remain on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals until January 2006. Cornyn, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution and the only former judge on the committee, said Kennedy and other liberal Democrats in the U.S. Senate want to continue the judicial obstruction of Bush nominees they have conducted over the past few years. "Those who thought the unprecedented obstruction of the president's judicial nominees would stop once they were sworn in were dead wrong," Cornyn said in a statement on Tuesday. "What Sen. Kennedy and others forget is that it was the Clinton administration which decided -- in 1993 -- that recess appointments as short as three days were justified." Cornyn said there was no uprising from Democrats at that time to question the constitutionality of Clinton's recess appointment to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. "This change of heart is not surprising, though. In fact, it's become a pattern," Cornyn contends. Referring to the flip-flops on this issue Senate Democrats have shown since former President Bill Clinton was in office, Cornyn explained that they used to be opposed to judicial filibuster, but now they use them at every opportunity. In addition, Cornyn said Senate Democrats also used to deem recess appointments as legal, but now they are unconstitutional. "Presidents since George Washington have made recess appointments to our federal courts, including our U.S. Supreme Court," noted Cornyn. He added, "Moreover, of the more than 300 recess appointments to the federal judiciary throughout our nation's history, the Pryor appointment is among the most justified of all because he clearly enjoys the support of a bipartisan majority of the Senate." Cornyn concluded by saying this battle over Pryor's nomination would be moot if Senate Democrats would allow a vote by the entire U.S. Senate on his nomination as required by the U.S. Constitution. "Pryor would be confirmed today if a partisan minority of the Senate would end its obstruction and allow a simple up-or-down vote, as contemplated by our Constitution," Cornyn expressed. "It's time for the obstruction to end." Cornyn served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge. Talon News reported in January that Bush made a recess appointment to place Charles Pickering on the bench in the same manner he did Pryor. Nevertheless, Senate Democrats continue to use judicial filibusters to block the appeals court nominations of judges Priscilla Owen, Carolyn Kuhl, and Janice Rogers Brown. Miguel Estrada withdrew his nomination in September 2003 after waiting two years for an up-or-down vote.
And, I am sure Capt. Oldsmobile sent the same letter when the Texas Rats left the state, illegally, rather than take a vote on redistricting, right?
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.