Bush Legacy In the 4th Circuit: 3 African-Americans In 3 Years

Claude A. Allen, of Virginia, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, vice Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr., deceased.

Robert C. Brack, of New Mexico, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico, vice a new position created by Public Law 107-273, approved November 2, 2002.

James O. Browning, of New Mexico, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico, vice C. LeRoy Hansen, retired.

Glen E. Conrad, of Virginia, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia, vice James C. Turk, retired.

Robert J. Conrad, Jr., of North Carolina, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, vice a new position created by Public Law 107-273, approved November 2, 2002.

Allyson K. Duncan, of North Carolina, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, vice Samuel J. Ervin, III, deceased.

Mark R. Filip, of Illinois, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, vice Harry D. Leinenweber, retired.

Kim R. Gibson, of Pennsylvania, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania, vice D. Brooks Smith, elevated.

Dora L. Irizarry, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, vice Reena Raggi, elevated.

H. Brent McKnight, of North Carolina, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, vice a new position created by Public Law 107-273, approved November 2, 2002.

Daniel P. Ryan, of Michigan, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, vice Patrick J. Duggan, retired.

Gary L. Sharpe, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York, vice Thomas J. McAvoy, retired.

Lonny R. Suko, of Washington, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington, vice Wm. Fremming Nielsen, retired.

Choice of Virginian draws fire

BY PETER HARDIN
TIMES-DISPATCH
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
Apr 30, 2003

WASHINGTON - President Bush is moving to increase from one to three the number of black judges on the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which was all white until late 2000.

Claude A. Allen of Virginia, now the No. 2 official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Allyson K. Duncan of North Carolina were nominated Monday.

"Both are African-American, and their confirmations by the Senate will further dismantle an historic barrier," White House counsel Alberto R. Gonzales wrote in a letter.

However, Bush's pick of the conservative Allen, a Virginia cabinet secretary under then-Gov. Jim Gilmore, drew concern from a Maryland senator and condemnation from a liberal coalition yesterday.

Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, D-Md., was unhappy with the choice of Allen to fill a seat vacated by the death of a Maryland jurist.

"We have serious reservations about this nomination," a Sarbanes spokesman said. "We believe this should be a Maryland seat." A spokesman for Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., had no comment.

Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, called Allen's selection "an extremely troubling choice."

"Fair-minded senators should be very concerned about Allen's radical record of opposition to a woman's right to choose, equal rights for gays and lesbians, and his unfounded and dangerous belief that denying students access to proper sex education will keep them safe," Aron said.

When Allen served as a spokesman for then-Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., in his 1984 re-election campaign, Allen was quoted as saying the Democratic candidate, then-Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., was vulnerable because of his links "with the queers," according to a news account cited by the Alliance.

Virginia's two Republican senators were supportive of Allen's nomination.

Sen. John W. Warner said of Allen, "I have come to value his judgment and wisdom and I look forward to his service on the Court of Appeals."

Sen. George Allen called Claude Allen a "very principled, steady and thoughtful individual, who would do an outstanding job on the court" and has done an excellent job in Richmond and Washington.

Claude Allen, 42, is deputy secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Duncan, 51, is a Raleigh lawyer and former judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. She was executive assistant to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chairman Clarence Thomas before he was named to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bush has still another chance to make his imprint on the appellate bench, widely viewed as the most conservative in the nation: Judge H. Emory Widener Jr. of Abingdon, 80, has informed the White House he will take senior, or semi-retired, status in September.

Allen, a native of Philadelphia, went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University Law.

Allen served as counsel to then-Virginia Attorney General Gilmore, a Republican, and was named secretary of health and human resources after Gilmore became governor. He has not been a judge.

When President Bill Clinton put the first black jurist on the 4th Circuit in 2000 - Roger L. Gregory of Richmond - he gave Gregory a temporary appointment during a congressional recess. The court had long been a focus of Clinton's efforts to name a black jurist.

In 2001, Gregory's backers successfully pressed Bush to give Gregory a lifetime appointment. A key argument involved the historic absence of blacks on the 4th Circuit and a higher percentage of black residents in that circuit than any other.

A former Clinton administration official, who was identified by the Bush White House this week among a list of Allen supporters, said yesterday he actually had not taken a position.

Walter E. Dellinger III was acting solicitor general in the Supreme Court's 1996-1997 term. He said Allen "was a fine student and a pleasure to teach," but he had not followed Allen's career since teaching him at Duke law school. He took no position on either Allen's or Duncan's nomination.

Duncan appears less controversial. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., finds Duncan a "mainstream, consensus nominee whom he could support," Edwards spokesman Mike Briggs said.

Duncan graduated first in her class of 400 from Hampton University in Virginia and received her law degree from Duke University.

The 4th Circuit is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court and hears appeals from Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia.

No judges from North Carolina currently sit on the bench. In his letter, Gonzales counts only three from Virginia, as if Widener had already left; four from South Carolina; two from Maryland and two from West Virginia.

The Alliance for Justice says its almost 60 member groups include the National Mental Health Association, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Children's Defense Fund, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Foundation.

Contact Peter Hardin at (202) 662-7669 or phardin@mediageneral.com
http://www.timesdispatch.com/frontpage/MGBJM6PM4FD.html

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