Posted on 02/16/2006 1:37:59 PM PST by ncountylee
WASHINGTON -- President Bush has nominated two California lawyers -- including the brother of Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith -- to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Milan Smith, a Los Angeles business lawyer and a former member of California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission, was named to the panel this week. His nomination follows the appointment last week of Sandra Segal Ikuta, general counsel to the California Resources Agency, to the nation's largest federal appeals court.
The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit covers nine Western states with about 54 million people and has 28 judgeships.
Smith and Ikuta would fill vacancies created by A. Tashima Wallace and James Browning, respectively, who each took senior status, the equivalent of retirement.
Gordon Smith, a Republican, said in a statement Wednesday he was proud of his older brother and honored that Bush has nominated him to the appeals court post, which pays $175,100 a year.
Milan Smith "has a brilliant legal mind, superior academic credentials, real world experience as a lawyer and a temperament that is wise and fair," the senator said. "He is my eldest sibling, my big brother and a shining example for me throughout the years of my life."
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
Milan Smith, 63, seems a little old to just be put on the bench. IMHO
bttt
Maybe the ninth needs some leadership???
Never fear. John Kerry will call a filibuster from Tuscany.
They're breaking up the Ninth Circus Court of Appeals???
Time to drag the 9th kicking and screaming towards the center...
Smith, a Republican, also is supported by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who endorsed his nomination in a letter to the White House last year. Boxer called Smith a highly respected lawyer who is "widely supported by his peers and colleagues and would make an excellent addition" to the 9th Circuit.
Smith's tenure on the employment panel is best remembered by his departure. He resigned from the panel in 1991 after then-Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a bill that would have given the commission power to award compensation to victims of sexual harassment.
Smith said his resignation -- and numerous public appearances promoting the bill -- helped spur the California Legislature to pass the bill again the next year. That time Wilson signed it.
"I did it a a matter of honor," Smith said of his resignation. "I felt there was no point if women are being sexually harassed but there's no damages."
---
hmmm... preliminarily, it seems like a poor choice.
This ought to send the liberals into orbit. The ninth circuit is so slanted, they can't do anything right.
Sadly, no.
Fillibusters ahead.
hmmm... preliminarily, it seems like a poor choice.
Yeah, the Boxer endorsement should have been enough to convince Bush to deep 6 this nomination. Then again the 9th Circus is so leftist, that even a moderate liberal will move the court drastically to the right. But I guess we'll have to see. The decision itself about sex harrassment money didn't seem so bad to me. Afterall, we nailed Bill Clinton to the tune of nearly $1 million on that one! I just worry about what Boxer the extremist saw in this nomination that caused the obstructionist witch to support it.
Unlikely. Neither of the two nominees is especially conservative.
"supported by Sen. Barbara Boxer"
Not a good sign.
It was dropped because the RATS in the Senate didn't go for it.
Fillibusters ahead.
I hope you are right.
But if Boxer if for it, why should we be for it?
I smell a rat.
Either that, or Boxer has made a deal behind Bush's back that guarantees that the nomination dies in committee, while she saps conservative support by publicly supporting Smith.
Do they have to move to Queertown?
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.