Bush nominates Cercone to District Court

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | Saturday, March 23, 2002 | Joseph D. Wilcox

[Willie Green]

President Bush's nomination of Allegheny County Judge David S. Cercone for an opening on the U.S. District Court in Western Pennsylvania was characterized Friday as a move to break the logjam on federal judge nominations.

"Fundamentally, it's an old-fashion political deal. The Democrats won't confirm Republican nominations until they get a number of Democratic nominees," said G. Terry Madonna, political science professor at Millersville University in Lancaster County.

[GeronL]

crap. If Bush nominates some Democrats, those will be the only guys to get confirmed

[tonyinv]

yet another cave.

[RamsNo1]

Man, this is so utterly and completely WEAKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!

[Commiewatcher]

"crap. If Bush nominates some Democrats, those will be the only guys to get confirmed."

The RATS fight, but we 'compromise'. In this case I call it a CAVE, not a compromise. A 'compromise' might be to nominate Cercone (or any RAT) after a floor vote on Pickering has occurred.

Bush Sr. made that 1990 budget 'compromise' and that was a major factor in giving us Clinton in 1992. If they haven't learned after 10 years I think becoming quite hopeless.

[Cicero]

Well, I think we should watch this. Will the Dems give a quid for Bush's pro? I doubt it. So far, they have only confirmed Bush's more liberal picks.

This story implies that Cercone is a moderate, but as well all know, that could mean anything. Is he tolerable as a judge? Is he pro-abort?

[Wphile]

I don't know anything about Cercone but if he's anyway liberal, this is a big mistake. The Dems will never respond to Bush's overtures. They will only appoint those they like and delay those they don't.

I think Bush should only appoint real conservatives - even more so than Pickering - and MAKE the Dems bork them and obstruct them. The Pickering fiasco showed the world the Dems true colors and they appear to be paying for it. Time to step it up not reverse course.

[deport]

Dont' know about the nominee, but here's a list of confirmed nominees.........

Confirmed Nominees

---

Name	Date of Hearing	Date Confirmed

Roger L. Gregory	7/11/01	7/20/01
Richard F. Cebull	7/11/01	7/20/01
Sam E. Haddon	7/11/01	7/20/01
William J. Riley	7/24/01	8/02/01
Sharon Prost	8/27/01	9/21/01
Reggie B. Walton	8/22/01	9/21/01
Barrington Parker	9/13/01	10/11/01
Michael Mills	9/13/01	10/11/01
Karen Caldwell	10/4/01	10/23/01
Laurie Camp	10/4/01	10/23/01
James Payne	10/4/01	10/23/01
Claire Eagan	10/4/01	10/23/01
Larry Hicks	10/18/01	11/5/01
Christina Armijo	10/18/01	11/6/01
Stephen Friot	10/18/01	11/6/01
Karon Bowdre	10/18/01	11/6/01
Terry Wooten	8/27/01	11/8/01
Edith Clement	10/4/01	11/13/01
Harris Hartz	10/25/01	12/6/01
Danny Reeves	11/7/01	12/6/01
Joe Heaton	11/7/01	12/6/01
Julie Robinson	11/7/01	12/11/01
Kurt Engelhardt	10/25/01	12/11/01
John Bates	10/25/01	12/11/01
Frederick Martone	11/7/01	12/13/01
Clay Land	11/7/01	12/13/01
William Johnson	10/25/01	12/13/01
C. Ashley Royal	12/5/01	12/20/01
Marcia Krieger	12/5/01	01/25/02
James Mahan	12/5/01	1/25/02
Callie Granade	12/5/01	2/4/02
Philip Martinez	12/5/01	2/5/02
Michael Melloy	1/24/02	2/11/02
Jay Zainey	1/24/02	2/11/02
David Bunning	12/10/01	2/14/02
James Gritzner	1/24/02	2/14/02
Richard Leon	1/24/02	2/14/02
Cindy Jorgenson	1/24/02	2/26/02
Robert Blackburn	1/24/02	2/26/02
Ralph Beistline	2/26/02	3/12/02
David Bury	2/26/02	3/15/02
Randy Crane	2/26/02	3/18/02

[AdvisorB]

Is their a site that would give us specific information about those Bush appointees that have been confirmed by the leaky dims on the Judiciary Committee?

[NittanyLion]

Thanks for the post Willie. Un-fricken-believable.

[AdvisorB]

The leaky dims and the rest of the Senate Judiciary Committee don't actually confirm the Bush Judicial appointees, it's the full Senate that is charged with confirming judges. Unless of course, the appointment process is throttled by the political machinations of leftist dims, where the appointment dies in the committee.

[VRWC_minion]

Judge David S. Cercone Superior Court Rating: Recommended The Candidate has served as an assistant district attorney for three years, a district justice for three years and then sixteen years as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. In this capacity, he was appointed to preside and administer the Criminal Court Division for six years. During his tenure, Judge Cercone has earned a reputation of being conscientious, diligent, unbiased and fair in his deliberations. He has gained respect from both the students and faculty as a college educator. His calm demeanor and excellent judicial temperament, coupled with his judicial and administrative experience, all represent qualities that make the Candidate competent to fulfill the demanding responsibilities of a Superior Court Judge.

[deport]

Is their a site that would give us specific information about those Bush appointees that have been confirmed by the leaky dims on the Judiciary Committee?

Did you try the link in the post above? Otherwise the Senate web site would have the info if you would like to dig around in it.

[VRWC_minion]

Baby Boy Cygnarowicz Newborn Died from head injuries   The brown-haired baby boy that Sharon Cygnarowicz gave birth to 15 months ago weighed seven pounds, eight ounces, according to the coroner's office.    The result of Cygnarowicz's third pregnancy and listed in court papers as baby boy Cygnarowicz, the infant was placed in a dumpster by his mother, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David S. Cercone said during a sentencing hearing.    An autopsy showed that the boy died from head injuries. Cercone said he accepted Cygnarowicz's guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter because the district attorney's office said they could not be sure of how the baby's head was injured, only that Cygnarowicz, 25, was responsible. Cygnarowicz has said that she does not remember the details surrounding the baby's birth.    Cercone sentenced her to serve two to four years in prison.    "I think about him a lot," Cygnarowicz said about her baby. "What he looks like and what he would be doing. And I never meant to hurt anybody."    Cygnarowicz gave birth to the child alone in her bedroom in her parents' McCandless home. The parents were sleeping in the next room and did not hear anything, Cygnarowicz's attorney Gary Gerson, said.    "What did you think would happen when you were pregnant and you sought absolutely no medical treatment or made no arrangements to give birth to a child? What did you think would happen?" Cercone asked her.    "When I gave birth, I just wanted to give birth and I wanted him to just be there," she told the judge. "And I was so fearful of my family that I didn't want to go to them until I had to, which would be right after he was born, and that's what I wanted to do."    Cygnarowicz's mother, Regina Cygnarowicz, in pleading with the judge not to sentence her daughter to prison, said she is still trying to understand what happened.    "I blame myself that I raised a child that had no one to go to," she said. "I beg you not to take her away from us because without her with us we cannot begin a healing process. We need to find answers and only Sharon can provide those for us."    Her mother and her friends described her as caring, kind and compassionate.    Cercone was unmoved.    Instead he sided with assistant district attorney Edward J. Borkowski, who said that the mercy extended to Sharon Cygnarowicz had already been exhausted by allowing her to plead to the charge of involuntary manslaughter instead of putting her on trial for first-degree murder.    "It is unquestionable that this child was born alive," Borkowski said. "The mitigation in this case, if you can find it, is overridden by the nature of this act."    Cercone agreed.    "You must realize how lucky you are that the commonwealth pursued involuntary manslaughter because you could be facing a mandatory life sentence," Cercone said. "The pre sentence report indicated that you had been pregnant before on at least two occasions. You should have known better. You had eight months to reflect upon the proper form of conduct."    As Cercone spoke, both Cygnarowicz and her parents, who were seated behind her, kept their eyes down and their heads bowed.    The sentences he gave -- running the involuntary manslaughter sentence consecutive to the sentences for abuse of a corpse and concealing the death of a child -- were the longest he could give without going outside of the state sentencing guidelines.    Gerson would not elaborate on Cygnarowicz's prior pregnancies, but former deputy district attorney W. Christopher Conrad said she had had two miscarriages.    At the end of the hearing, Cygnarowicz, who had been free on bond, was handcuffed and taken to begin serving her sentence

[GeronL]

[GeronL]

2-4 years in prison?? gosh

[Willie Green]

but as well all know, that could mean anything. Is he tolerable as a judge? Is he pro-abort?

Good questions that need to be answered.

[Texbob]

Bush again bowing to the beady eyed Daschle, you would think Daschle was president, because Bush sure is not exercising his power.

[tonyinv]

Here's a question, has this Judge let his personal opinions influence his judicial opinions? Has this guy ever said a word about racial issues? How has he ruled on voting rights cases. Has he ever talked with the Justice department about a case?

If Bush is going to cave to the Dems, then the Republicans on the Judiciary Committe should apply the Pickering standards to any and all liberal judges, our "Conservative" President appoints.

As the days roll by there is less and less reason to be proud of my vote in Florida in 2000. Even in the fight against terrorism, we've apparently decided that blatant terrorism in Isreal is ok. It appears that some terrorists is better than others.

[VRWC_minion]

What if Bush nominated him solely as a whipping boy ? That would be interesting.