Questions Regarding Judge Charles Pickering

ME ^ | 3/21/02 | CyberCowboy777

[CyberCowboy777]

I recently sent my senator a e-mail asking for a full floor vote on Pickering's nomination. She replied with some allegations that I want to responded too....

I know Freepers will have the answers, so here is the discourse.

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Dear Mr.. ????:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the nomination of Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. I appreciate hearing from you.

As a Senator and a member of the Judiciary Committee, I take my responsibility to advise and consent on nominees to the federal judiciary extremely seriously. While I recognize the privilege of the President to select his nominees, I believe it is critical that we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of each nominee's qualifications, since, unlike members of the President's cabinet, federal judges receive lifetime appointment. I am pleased that the Judiciary Committee and the Senate have been moving forward in a responsible way to fill judicial vacancies since last July when the Democrats took over the leadership of the Senate. The full Senate has confirmed 35 District Court judges, and seven Circuit Court judges in the past eight months.

As you know, the Judiciary Committee voted to defeat Judge Pickering's nomination by a 10-9 decision on March 14, 2002. After two nomination hearings, where I listened intently to Judge Pickering's testimony and questioned him on issues important to my constituents, and personally undertaking a thorough review of his record as a District Court judge, I concluded that I could not support Judge Pickering's elevation to the Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Pickering will continue to serve as a federal District Court judge in Mississippi.

Because the Circuit Court of Appeals is the court of last resort for the majority of cases, nominees to this Court must meet a high standard of excellence. Unfortunately, during his tenure on the District Court, Judge Pickering has repeatedly demonstrated that he falls short of this standard. He has been reversed by the Circuit Court of Appeals twenty-six times. Frequently, these reversals were not in difficult or complex cases, but simply resulted from Judge Pickering's failure to follow the clear law of the circuit. Judge Pickering is a person of strong personal views, and my review of his ten-year record demonstrates that he has repeatedly failed to put those views to the side and rule impartially based on the law.

Most notably, in a 1995 case, an individual named David Swan, was convicted of burning a cross on the lawn of an interracial couple and sentenced to seven years in prison. Months after the conviction, Judge Pickering called both parties into his chambers for a closed meeting. In that meeting, he proposed the parties agree to a motion for a new trial with the intent of reducing Mr.. Swan's sentence. This action, in addition to receiving justifiable criticism from ethics experts, is a clear violation of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure which state, "the court shall not participate in any discussion between the parties concerning a plea agreement."

After a thorough examination of his record, I found Judge Pickering to lack a clear understanding of the requirements of judicial ethics and to lack the ability to distinguish his personal beliefs from judging the issues before the court. Therefore, I could not support his elevation to the Fifth Circuit. I believe there are many Mississippi lawyers and judges qualified to fill this crucially important judicial seat and I am hopeful that the President will soon nominate one of them.

Again, thank you for sharing your concerns with me. I encourage you to keep in touch in the future on the issues that are important to you.

Sincerely,

Maria Cantwell
United States Senator

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Is this true? Has the Judge broke the law? If so why has he not been charged?

My guess is that this is spin, so I came to get the truth.

Thanks to all who respond

[CyberCowboy777]

Please help me with your info on the matter.

[CyberCowboy777]

Bump - I need help

[hobbes1]

Go back and look at the testimony by the Republican side during the hearing, or NR, or the news the day after. All her points were refuted easily.

[lawdog]

".."charges sounded quite serious, a close examination of the case suggests that they were not only not accurate, but appeared designed to mislead listeners to the conclusion that Pickering is unqualified.."

Your senator is "spinning" for idealogical reason. Please go to The National Review and see the article by Byron York.Ater you line up your ducks throw her "con" back in her face and be sure to tell her you will support her opponent in the next election.

[chaosagent]

Don't know about the cross thing, but I recently read that Pickering had been reversed less than the average for his circuit, or for the country as a whole.

[Concerto in D]

I got the same drivel from her. So I immediately e-mailed her back and asked her for specifics on each charge she made against Judge Pickering. I specifically asked her to list those cases in which he clearly did not follow the law; and, if he had not followed the law, why were charges not brought against him.

Since I vaguely recall that she proudly stated that she had never read the Constitution, I expect any answers from her to be on a two-year-old level. (I could be wrong about her being the one who said she had never read the Constitution--I was too busy earning a living and paying taxes during that time; but it was some doofus from Washington State.)

[Salvation]

CantDoWell needs to be defeated. When is she up for re-election in Washisngton?

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Look at the name Maria Cantwell. She's all spin. She never met a Clinton fundraiser she didn't like.

[twyn1]

I listened to Ms. Cantwell during the recent judiciary committee hearing on Pickering -- it seemed to me that what she was most concerned about was the fact that Pickering was pro-life, and she didn't want there to be any chance of him getting near the "sacred" law that gives women the "right to choose *"

* {to kill their unborn child}

[twyn1]

What I've heard about the "cross burning incident"

There were three men involved -- two of these men were known to be violent racists, one of them had previously fired a gun into the home of an interracial couple (not sure if it was the same couple), and his mother refused to testify for him, saying he was "terrible". It was this guy and the other racist who actually set up and burned the cross.

David Swan, admittedly drunk that night, stayed in (and perhaps drove) the pickup truck that was used by the other 2 guys.

When they were caught, the 2 racist guys started "singing" and agreed to testify in court against David Swan, they recieved very light sentences while he was convicted and given 7 (or 17 ??) years

Judge Pickering knew the father (uncle ??) of David Swan and agreed to look into the case, when he found out about the light sentences the actual perps got, he called a few friends to see what had happened and to ask if the sentence could be reduced

This "just between us good-ol-boys" type of deal goes on all the time, the Dems picked up on it and made it into a big deal, because they could "accuse" Pickering of being a racist by mentioning the "cross burning" case, but never actually "call" him a racist straight out...

[CyberCowboy777]

I asked the same thing... If he was doing somthing ilegal why were charges not brought up.....

Thanks to all here I have put together a good response...I'll let you know how she response...

[CyberCowboy777]

Thanks for the info.... I was still looking for info on that...

Just as I thought, Spin.... I'll see what she has to say.