Posted on 07/27/2003 9:08:47 AM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Bush nominee has local support
Appeals court choice is sound, his backers say
By Kelly Hassett
Lansing State Journal
Hearing a case from Geoffrey Fieger, one of Michigan's most flamboyant and liberal lawyers, should be enough to elicit a conservative judge's criticism.
But not so from U.S. District Judge David McKeague of Lansing, according to McKeague's good friend and fellow Republican Eric Doster.
"He was very complimentary of Fieger's courtroom knowledge," said Doster, who had asked his friend about Fieger's performance. "That was his chance to (trash) him and he never did."
It's that objectivity, McKeague's supporters say, that would serve him well on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - a post to which he has been nominated by President Bush.
McKeague, a 56-year-old father of six known for his community involvement, is the only judge from mid-Michigan ever nominated for the Cincinnati-based court, court historian Rita Wallace said.
But his chance to sit on the nation's second-highest court is being held up by Michigan's two senators. Democrats Debbie Stabenow of Lansing and Carl Levin of Detroit are blocking Bush's four nominations to the federal appeals court in response to Republicans blocking two judges nominated to the court by then-President Clinton.
Vacancies on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals have remained open for years because Michigan senators from each party have blocked the other party's nominees. The court hears appeals from federal district courts in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee; only the U.S. Supreme Court is higher than federal appeals courts.
McKeague was general counsel for the Michigan Republican Party from 1988-91 and has also served as Ingham County's GOP chairman.
"We don't have any comment specifically about (McKeague's) qualifications," said state Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer, "but we do continue to support Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow in their efforts to have justice done for the two Clinton nominees who never did get hearings."
McKeague said he is prohibited from speaking with the media about the nomination, but supporters say his tight grasp of the law would be a benefit to the appeals court.
Doster, a partner at Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith and the current general counsel for the state GOP, said McKeague's decisions aren't tainted by personal or political viewpoints.
"David will follow the law," he said. "You're not going to find a decision he did that says this guy's a flaming right-winger."
McKeague was born in Pittsburgh but has lived most of his life in the Lansing area. He began his private practice work at Foster, Swift after getting his law degree in 1971 from the University of Michigan.
He moved up the ranks to senior partner, director and officer of the firm until his appointment to the U.S. District Court bench in 1992. McKeague has ruled on several high-profile cases. In 2000, he dismissed a lawsuit by five parents who accused a Grand Rapids-area charter school of illegally exposing their children to religion.
In a controversial 1997 ruling, McKeague gave state police permission to release lists of sex offenders to the public. Supporters said the list helped parents protect their children; critics argued that releasing the names was unconstitutional and posed a safety risk to the people on the list.
McKeague has been a member of several community boards and is an adjunct professor for the Michigan State University Detroit College of Law in East Lansing.
He founded the American Inns of Court, a mentoring program at MSU-DCL. The program is affiliated with the state Bar Association and brings together judges with lawyers of different experience levels, said Jeremy Harrison, a professor at MSU-DCL.
"The ultimate purpose is to increase the professionalism of all of us," he said.
McKeague's leadership during the program's birth gave a much-needed boost to the group. It was McKeague's name "that helped us establish ourselves in the Lansing area," Harrison said.
Having McKeague on the 6th Circuit Court not only would be a great topper to his legal career, it would bring well-deserved attention to the Lansing area, said local defense attorney Frank Reynolds, who worked with McKeague on the American Inns program.
"I think it's really important for the area and really important for the state," Reynolds said.
Doster said McKeague's time as GOP counsel should not be a factor in his confirmation.
"He's gone. He's out of the political picture," he said. "When you become a judge you don't walk in with a clean slate, of course, but you're the people's (judge) now."
What a hypocrite (Levin)!
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