Posted on 12/07/2001 6:20:23 AM PST by Dane
Friday December 7 9:36 AM ET
Bush Civil Rights Appointee Sworn in
By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush (news - web sites)'s appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was sworn in at the White House, but the commission chairwoman says there's no room at the table.
Cleveland lawyer Peter Kirsanow was sworn in Thursday night, in time for the panel's regular monthly meeting on Friday. A District of Columbia judge swore in Kirsanow with Bush's top lawyer, Alberto Gonzales, looking on.
Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry says the disputed seat on the commission ``ought to be resolved in the courts.'' She planned to hold the meeting without seating Kirsanow.
Kirsanow, accompanied by three lawyers, arrived 30 minutes before the commission's scheduled starting time and took a seat with others in the audience. The nameplate of Victoria Wilson, who has held the seat to which Kirsanow was appointed, was still at the U-shaped table where commissioners sit.
White House moves to force Bush's appointee onto the commission were ``about muzzling us and it's scary to have them take all of this time and energy,'' Berry said. ``It makes me even more afraid for the preservation of the commission.''
The dispute between the Republican White House and a prominent black civil rights leader surprised the Bush team.
Berry says the term of the commissioner Bush wants to replace has not expired.
By taking the disputed seat held by Wilson, Kirsanow, a member of the largely conservative Center for New Black Leadership, would effectively rein in Berry's power over the commission.
Berry - a frequent critic of the 2000 elections and particularly of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, younger brother of the president - presides over a panel on which six commissioners lean Democratic and two lean Republican. The White House has already announced it plans to appoint Jennifer Cabranes Braceras to replace, Yvonne Lee, whose term is expiring in early December. If Kirsanow is seated, the commission would be split 4-4.
Wilson, an independent, often sides with Berry. She was appointed in January 2000 to replace Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., who died in 1998.
The Bush administration maintains Wilson's term ended Nov. 29, at the time Higginbotham's term would have expired, and that this expiration date was spelled out in the Clinton administration's paperwork on Wilson's appointment.
Berry argued the documents are wrong and are trumped by federal law, which says new commissioners will fill a six-year term.
Democratic Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Jerrold Nadler of New York wrote Berry on Thursday to say the law as amended in 1994 reflects her interpretation.
The commission received a letter from the Justice Department (news - web sites) late Thursday informing Berry that she is not allowed to retain outside legal help without Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites)'s permission. Berry rejected that opinion.
"Mr. Kirsanow you, give up your seat to Ms. Wilson, you belong in the back of the bus"
Mr. Kirsanow should walk in there with federal marshals at his side and a letter from the President addressed to Ms. Berry, indicating that if she insists upon not seating Mr. Kirsanow, that she has the option of resigning in protest, such resignation the President would gladly accept.
He is black... and conservative. Horrors!
He went to the meeting and sat in the audience?
I guess it's a smart move but I hoping for fireworks - you know Fed Marshall's dragging Wilson out of her chair kicking and screaming with Berry throwing the mother of all temper tantrums.
I just wonder how long it will take to fight it out in court. And what's up with this 1994 amended law? That's a new twist.
The CANNOT be true. Other wise, at the end of a presidents term, he could have his appointees resign and then he could appoint them again and effectively extend their terms beyond his replacements term. Now, I'm sure the demorats would agree with this while a demorat was in office but oppose it when a republican was. True?
.
What 1994 law? Can anyone find this out?
"Compassionate" or not, get rid of the dead weight, man!
:/ ttt
Independent, my white Southern butt. Neither is Berry.
Ms. Victoria Wilson works for Knopf Publishing. Guess who is publishing Clinton's book?
The paperword Bill Clinton filed when HE appointed Ms. Wilson says her term expires in November of 2001.
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