Bush's plan to stack the courts begins today

[Guest guest]

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 17:04:14 -0800

" Ben Brandzel, MoveOn PAC "

Bush's plan to stack the courts begins today

 

Dear MoveOn member,

 

As we write this, the Senate is debating the nomination of

mining and cattle industry lobbyist William Myers III for a lifetime

appointment to the Circuit Court of Appeals -- the second highest

court in the land. Myers is the first of 20 nominees Bush has

re-submitted in his second term. All 20 repeat nominees were rejected

last term by Senate Democrats (as compared to 204 judges they

accepted) because these nominees consistently sided with corporate

special interests over the rights of ordinary Americans.

 

The Senate has the power to approve or reject judicial

nominations because judges -- above all else -- must be trusted by

Americans on all sides to rule fairly. So why does Bush refuse to send

new nominees both parties can agree on? Because while his presidency

will be over in 4 years, the judges he appoints will be on the bench

for the rest of their lives. This is Bush's big push to lock in his

hard right, corporate-friendly ideology for decades to come -- and

that is exactly why we must not back down now.

 

The fight begins today. The Myers vote is a key test -- and

may well determine whether Bush can stack the judiciary, all the way

up to the Supreme Court, with a steady stream of hard right,

pro-corporate judges. It's crucial that our Senators know that we out

here in America are counting on them to hold the line against all 20

of Bush's rejected, partisan judges.

 

Please sign today:

 

http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/

 

We will deliver your comments to your Senators before the

crucial votes on these 20 judicial nominees.

 

Here's a brief summary of just the first three of the 20

partisan judges re-nominated by President Bush.

 

William Myers III has never been a judge and spent most of

his career as a lobbyist for the cattle and mining industry.[1] He has

written that all habitat conservation laws are unconstitutional

because they interfere with potential profit.[2] In 2001, Bush

appointed him as the chief lawyer for the Department of the Interior.

In that role he continued as a champion of corporate interests,

setting his agenda in meetings with former employers he promised not

to speak with, and even illegally giving away sacred Native American

land to be strip mined.[3]

 

Terrence Boyle was a legal aide to Jesse Helms. As a

judge, his signature decisions have attempted to circumvent federal

laws barring employment discrimination by race, gender, and

disability.[4] His rulings have been overturned a staggering 120 times

by the conservative 4th District Court of Appeals, either due to gross

errors in judgment or simple incompetence.[5]

 

William Pryor Jr. served as Attorney General of Alabama,

where he took money from Phillip Morris, fought against the

anti-tobacco lawsuit until it was almost over, and cost the people of

Alabama billions in settlement money for their healthcare system as a

result.[6] He called Roe v. Wade " the worst abomination of

constitutional law in our history, " and has consistently argued

against the federal protections for the civil rights of minorities,

lesbian and gay couples, women, and the disabled.[7]

 

If we falter now, then decades down the road dozens of judges

like this will still be ruling in favor of unchecked corporate greed

and against the basic principles of accountability and fairness.

 

The Bush Administration is prepared to stop at nothing to

smash Democratic resistance and stack the courts. As President of the

Senate, Dick Cheney has even threatened to push these 20 through by

using a parliamentary trick so abusive even he calls it the " nuclear

option. " If they can get away with it, the " nuclear option " would

eliminate the right to filibuster -- a rule that has allowed 40 or

more Senators to keep extremists from all sides off the courts for

centuries.

 

If that happens, when Supreme Court vacancies begin to open up

in a few months there will be no motivation for Bush to nominate

justices acceptable to both parties, and no ability for Democrats to

oppose even the most dangerous extremists.

 

We must draw the line here, by stopping Bush's 20 repeat

nominees. They were rejected once -- they can and must be rejected again.

 

Please sign the petition today:

http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/

 

Thanks for all that you do,

 

--Ben Brandzel, Eli Pariser and the whole MoveOn PAC Team

Tuesday, March 1st, 2005

 

Notes:

 

[1] " Unfit to Judge, " Community Rights Council, 4/2/04.

 

[2] " Myers Troubling Legal Philosophy, " People for the

American Way.

 

[3] " Environmental Group Calls on Senate to Block Myers

Nomination: Ethical Problems and Anti-Environmental Activism Make Him

Unfit for Judgeship, " Friends of the Earth, 2/5/05.

 

[4] " Federal Judge Terrence Boyle Unfit for Promotion to

Appeals Court, " People for the American Way, 2/23/05.

 

[5] " Eastern District of North Carolina Terrence Boyle

Nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, "

Alliance for Justice.

 

[6] Eric Fleischauer, " Pryor Called a Tobacco Sellout, "

Decatur Daily News, 10/30/02.

 

[7] Ann Woolner, " Bush Judicial Candidate Shows How Things

Change, " Bloomberg News, 5/16/03.

 

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC

 

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.